Of Hearth and Home
by RemedyChill
Summary: An angry Wanda is transported one year in to the future to find her brainwashed counterpart working for Magneto. And a mysterious mutant arrives in town with plans of his own. Did I mention it was Christmas? Please rr and above all, enjoy!
1. Default Chapter

Of Hearth and Home

And X-Men Evolution Fanfic by Remedy=Chill.

Chapter One: Hairstyles and Attitudes

Professor Charles Francis Xavier sat quietly in his private study in his Bayville mansion. He was lost in thought until the soft knocking at the door drew him back to the moment.

"Yes, Hank." He said with a dry mouth. "Come in."

The great, blue Beast peeked tentatively and hesitantly around the edge of the door.

"Come in." Xavier said again, forcing himself to smile.

Hank watched the forced smile cross Xavier's face and he sighed, heavily as he stepped in to the room.

Xavier, seeing that Hank had seen through him, let the smile fall from his face.

"Charles …" The Beast Began. "What's been bothering you? Is it the holiday?" Hank looked for a sign of recognition. "It seems that the closer Christmas gets, the more you've withdrawn. It hasn't gone unnoticed. Even with the students."

Xavier raised his eyes and read the truth across his face. _Even the students noticed …_

"I've been concerned." Xavier began, offering Hank a chair with a wave of his hand. "About Magneto."

"Magneto." Hank sighed. "What's he up to this time?"

Xavier looked at Hank distractedly. "Oh." He replied. "No. Not like that. I should have said I was concerned **_for_** him."

"FOR HIM?" Beast snorted the words louder than he intended. A relieved smile broke across his face for just an instant before seating himself. "I don't understand." Beast admitted.

Xavier tuned back to the window and stared distantly across his lawn. "I am … burdened to know certain things."

Beast was suddenly concerned. "What things?" He asked quietly.

Xavier smirked. "Last year, events of a somewhat temporal nature unfolded here in Bayville." (See Flickering Souls – same Author).

"Really?" Beast asked. 

"Yes. Although only a select few were privy to the details. An alternate timeline engulfed ours and played itself out. Our universe then resumed it's existence."

Hank was obviously stunned.

"And I'm afraid that events set in motion then are about to impact our time once again."

"How?" Beast asked quickly in a hushed tone.

"Everything was set right again when the timeline resumed. With one exception." Xavier pursed his lips. "Wanda Maximoff."

"Wanda?" Beast shook his head. "What does she had to do with this?"

"Last year she was angry, violent and looking to destroy her father." Xavier explained.

"But now she's fine, isn't she? I mean – as fine as a person with a head full of false memories can be, right?"

"Yes, but she's only half the story. Whether you want to call her brainwashed or cured. The other half of the story is the old or angry Wanda." Xavier swallowed. "Last year she used the temporal reversion to her own advantage. She had herself sent one year in to the future. To now, our present – in an attempt to destroy her father."

"But she's been here all year long." Beast observed.

"Oh, yes, the timeline has unfolded normally from our point of view." Xavier agreed. "But last year – she vanished – if only for a microsecond of our time. And that version of her is now, or will be shortly alive and living on it's own in Bayville. And I'm sure – intent on resuming her vendetta."

"I see." Hank sighed the words. This whole conversation had given him a headache right behind his eyes.

"And I feel powerless to intervene." Xavier added.

A thought occurred to Hank. "Does Eric know?" He asked.

"No." Xavier said quickly and quietly.

"Charles …" Hank searched, but there were no words of comfort for a time like this.

"I know Hank. Thank you." He smiled his forced smile again. "And please, try to assure the others that all is well." He sighed. "Because it is. Or it will be." He cast a humorous glance at his friend. "Or not." He mused amusedly.

The Beast stood up slowly. "Please let me know, if there is anything you need or …"

Xavier smiled and Hank dropped his eyes, shrugged and then left the room quietly.

Meanwhile, across town, Mystique hid quietly. Behind her stood Todd and Lance.

"Stay back." She whispered. "But get a good look at him."

Todd leaned out and took a look at the man. He was tall and thin. His hair was dark and stood up off his head. He wore a light beard along his jaw and a strange little smile. He was standing alone in the middle of town and staring at the public Christmas tree as it was being decorated, slowly bouncing in place on the balls of his feet.

"Looks okay to me." Todd said, leaning back toward Mystique.

"Who?" Lance asked, having leaned out to see for himself. "The guy who stole Pyro's haircut?" He looked at Mystique in disbelief. "Him?"

"_Yes_!" Mystique hissed. "_Him_!" She shook her head at the two of them. "He's dangerous. I'm telling you – all of you. Stay clear of him at all costs. Do you understand me?"

She glowered at them and they withdrew hesitantly.

"Sure." Lance said at last. "Anything you say. You know that."

Mystique turned her gaze on Todd who slipped behind Lance. "Like he said." He agreed.

She pursed her lips and peered back around the corner. "I don't know what you're doing here." She said to him across the distance. "But I hope you're just passing through."

Todd and Lance exchanged curious glances. "Who is he?" Todd asked.

"_Shut up_." Mystique snapped at him. "All you need to know is that he's _dangerous_. He's _deadly_." She sighed as she stared at him. "Just like his _father_."

"Who's his …" Lance began, but she turned on him with a vicious smile that made him shut his trap.

"Dangerous." Lance repeated. "Stay clear. _Gotcha_."

Todd nodded twice at her from behind Lance. "Absolutely." He confirmed. "Whatever you say."

And Mystique glanced back. The man was gone.

Mystique glanced around, alarmed. _Derek_? Was all she thought.


	2. Of Hearth and Home CH02 You’ve Got To ...

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Two: You've Got To Stand For Something 

Wanda awoke with a start. For a moment she didn't know where she was, but after a moment it all came rushing back to her. She had traveled in time and arrived late last night, face down in a snow-bank. 

Later she had made her way to one of her old haunts; A cheap bar. The manager was surprised to see her again and let her sleep in the back room, 'just like old times'.

Her head hurt. Maybe because the human mind isn't meant to travel in time. Maybe it's because it isn't supposed to get falling down drunk before time traveling. It's hard to say.

Wanda stumbled out of the back room and looked around. "Burt?" She called.

"Burt ain't worked here in a year." The man behind her grinned as he wiped his hands on a bar rag. "How long you been asleep in there?"

Wanda shot him a very unamused grin and wandered over to him, clutching her head. "Aspirin?" She asked.

He pulled a bottle out from behind the bar and set it down quietly. Then he popped the cap off with is thumb.

When she moved for the aspirin he grabbed the water hose and filled a glass for her.

She swallowed six pills without the water, then sat down to stare in to the glass. "I taste floor." She said plainly.

The man smiled. "I'm Tony, by the way."

"Wanda." She said, massaging her own temples.

"Wanda?" He asked. "Not the Wanda who wrapped the barstool around Greg Williams head?" He asked.

"Soooo guilty." She smiled, despite keeping her eyes closed and massaging her head.

"Well, hell, you're a real living legend, now aren't you?" He smirked a bit.

"Something like that." She said. "Thanks for the head help."

"No problem." Tony smiled. "Come back any time."`

"I'm in town for three days." She told him. "I'll be back tonight."

"Then I'll see you tomorrow morning." He smirked. "I'll have to remember to bring my autograph book."

She cast a glance at him. He wore a smirk that told her he was terribly pleased with himself. She eyed him up and down.

__

Not bad. She thought. _Maybe …_

Tony paused for a moment after she slipped out the door. Then he picked up the phone and set it on the bar in front of him.

He pulled out his wallet began to rummage through it. Finally, he found what he was looking for. 

The number was old and faded but it rang and someone answered.

"Yeah, My name is Tony. I'm looking to talk to the old man." He shook his head at the person on the other end of the phone. "Just tell _your dad_ I've got some information about a certain _red-haired witch_ he was interested in."

He paused, listening to the other end of the conversation. 

"Things like where she spent last night, where she'll be tonight and how hung-over she'll look in the meantime." He said smugly.

"Yeah." He told the voice. "That's the place. I work days." He paused again. "Sure. Just come on down and ahhh … _bring cash_." He laughed once. "Yeah. Cash."

Then he hung up the phone and replaced it behind the bar before smiling slyly and grabbing a broom to sweep up.

Later that night and across town, a thin man who (seemingly) ripped off Pyro's haircut was leaning back against one of the huge pine trees on the Xavier estate. He was nestled in the branches of the tree and staring across in to a second story window.

He wasn't ready to be seen by these people yet. Not like Mystique. He had allowed her to see him so that she would keep her distance. And he knew – she would. The last thing in this world that she wanted was another round with him.

He had been counting the number of people in the mansion. He was even sure he had seen who he was looking for. But then he got distracted.

He was distracted by Storm.

When he saw her he let out a long low whistle that seemed to carry across the mansion grounds.

He watched her. She was answering questions from two of the younger people he'd counted. When they turned away, she let her mask slip, and she smiled – wide and wildly. Whatever they had said had, quite obviously, amused her no end.

He found himself smiling as he relaxed in his tree and admired his view of Storm.

She paused as she began to exit and looked around, almost as though she could detect his attention.

He hoped, quietly, that she would smile or laugh again. But she didn't, and then she was gone.

He cocked his head to one side and watched her as she left the room through the far door. Then he sighed to himself almost mockingly.

He rubbed his hands together for warmth and resumed counting X-Men. He was silently sure that he didn't want any surprises once he was inside the mansion. Not even the potentially pleasant ones like Storm.

Quietly, he made a mental note to himself. A part of his time here was hers now – If she was amiable.

Then he wrapped his arms around himself for warmth and waited. He knew that any minute now Logan and Scott would come rounding the path that circles the mansion. They ran together every night this week and he knew that tonight was no exception. 

The only difference was that tonight, he was right above them and on the mansion property.

And sure enough they came around the corner, breathing heavily and pumping their muscles hard in the cold night air. He smiled. It looked like fun to him; Like something a father and son might do.

A moment later they had passed him by completely. Neither noticed, not even Wolverine with his hyper-sensitive sense of smell. He was just too high up the tree for the wind to carry his scent to Wolverine below. But inside, he knew that – and that's why he had positioned himself where he was. That, and to get a better look at the two of them as they passed.

By tomorrow, he will have been on the roof and confirmed his headcount while they sleep. It was going to be a cold night, but he knew that what he was doing was going to be well worth it in the end.

He was sure. He had found exactly who he was looking for. And now? It was time to reap the rewards of the hunt.

Soon, he would know everything. All his questions would be answered by first-hand experience. He smiled in to the cold and took in a deep breath and reveled in the hearty smell of the pine.


	3. Of Hearth and Home CH03 The Joker

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Three: The Joker

Derek, for lack of a better name, sat smiling at Hank McCoy.

"Say ahhhh." Hank told him with tongue depressor in hand.

"Wah-ba-pa-lu-bop." He replied with a grin. (1)

Hank almost chuckled. "Right." He said. "Just open your mouth and stick out your tongue."

Derek did as he was told.

Hank examined him by penlight.

"And your vocal condition, has it been like this since birth?" Hank asked curiously.

Derek shook his head side to side, very slowly; a sly smile playing on his lips.

Hank smiled back. "I know. Pretty standard stuff, but anyone with a room needs to be checked out medically. Health code stipulation."

Derek nodded in understanding.

Hank picked up a needle and rubber strap. "I need to take some blood for a pathogen check."

Derek eyed him warily. 

"That's Professor X, not the health department." Hank informed him.

Derek stuck out his arm and Hank tied it off and took the blood sample. A moment later Wolverine stepped quickly in to the room. Xavier followed solemnly behind him.

"Step back Beast." Logan cautioned.

Hank did as he was told but questioned. "What is it?"

"It's him." Logan gestured with a nod toward Derek.

Derek slid down off the table and smiled a guilty smirk.

"Easy there." Logan growled at him.

Derek smirked and pulled on his shirt.

"Don't move." Logan cautioned him with a warning hand between them.

"Logan." Xavier glanced between them. "Hold."

Logan stood ready.

"I trust you know what this is about?" Xavier asked Derek, trying to gauge his reaction.

Derek nodded and then turned to Hank. "Who made who?" Derek asked him, focusing on the blood sample. (2)

"Ah," Hank looked at the blood sample.

"Yes." Xavier brightened. "Indeed." He looked at Hank. "Please, continue with what you were doing." He nodded. "It may clear up a few things."

Wolverine hardened his Jaw. "And until then I'll be watching you." He told Derek.

Derek then spun in place on one heel and spread his arms as if to say "Watch away." The he turned on Hank. And pressed his finger to his lips. "Shhh…" He told him and then smiled.

A few hours later Hank slowly lumbered up to Xavier's office and stood humbly before Xavier.

"I'm sorry." Beast said softly. "But I have to respect his wishes."

Xavier looked stern. "Hank, I would hope that any threat to the institute or the students would …"

"Of course." Hank chimed in quickly and then fell silent again.

Xavier sat back and studied his friend. "I take it that he does not constitute any kind of medical threat to the institute?"

"Not that I could see." Hank kept his head low as he spoke.

"But you've learned more." Xavier asked. 

"Yes." Beast agreed. "In fact …" He bit his lip. Doctor/Patient confidentiality was important to him. Particularly when pressed by a patient.

Xavier leaned in closer to listen.

"I would tell you if there was a threat." He said slowly. "So it stands to reason that, in my medical opinion … I think he has a _right_ to be here."

Xavier sat back slightly stunned.

Hank shifted his weight from foot to foot. "The students or staff … they are allowed to have visitors … particularly … "

"Family?" Xavier half-guessed.

Hank looked over the tops of his glasses and met Xavier's eyes.

"Family." He confirmed.

"But … Who?" Xavier asked.

And Hank dropped his eyes again.

"Oh." Xavier smiled. "I see. That's what he's keeping quiet."

Hank let his casual glance betray his understanding.

"He wants to get to know … whoever … as a person first?"

Hank smiled gently. "I think it's actually more … complex than that. I think that he is … "

"Complicated." Xavier nodded. "I'm coming to understand that."

"What did he do Charles? Why is Wolverine downstairs in his full on menace mode while this man plays Chess with Kurt?" Beast shook his head. 

Xavier smiled. "He slipped in to the mansion. System and all." Xavier told him. "I did not bring him here."

Beast cocked his head. "So where did he come from?"

"He arrived, strolling across the lawn, when Logan and Fury came back from their monthly debriefing about X23's disappearance." Xavier paused. "I thought he was with them. And Logan thought I had 'picked him up' during his absence."

Hank chuckled. "Right hand didn't recognize the left, did it?"

"And he took full advantage." Xavier noted. "We even assigned him a room because he ended up in line with one of the new recruits who wanted a room change."

Hank was laughing steadily now and Xavier smiled.

"It came at a bad time. My focus has been elsewhere." Xavier told him.

"I know Charles. But from my perspective, he just sidled up with his own personal agenda. I don't think he meant any harm."

"Possibly not." Xavier sighed. "I've been considering a mental probe to clarify things a bit."

Hank shrugged. "It's easier than talking to him."

"Understandable." Xavier admitted. "It must be frustrating."

"I don't even want to think about it." Hank shook his head. "I like to talk. I enjoy conversation. And I just wanted to ask him a million questions when I got the results of the blood tests and …"

Hank sighed quietly. "I only asked two." He swallowed. "He's just incapable of expressing language in the same way we do. Even though I am sure he did once. He might know your name, but calling you by it is out of the question."

"And yet, the lyrics …"

"Remain intact." Hank agreed. "And surface for a variety of reasons. He uses them to express his mood, and occasionally his opinions. Sometimes he'll recognize the pattern or beat of a song and start singing the lyrics." Hank shrugged.

"The upside is that Kurt seems to understand him just fine. They never shut up. He's been making Logan crazy . he cant follow the conversation."

Xavier smiled. "I think I'll meet with him in the morning. Would you tell him on your way out? Nine o'clock."

"Sure Charles." Hank smiled warily. "And try to get some sleep."

And as Hank slipped out the door Xavier turned his mind back to other thoughts and began to worry for his long lost friend.

Authors notes:

1) Tuity Fruity – Little Richard

2) Who Made Who – AC/DC


	4. Of Hearth and Home CH04 The World I Kn...

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Four: The World I Know

Wanda rounded the corner out of the bar and fished her red frame sunglasses out of her pocket. A moment later she felt fine as she crossed through the gentle traffic of Main Street.

She followed the side walk, her head down in caution against this strange time, but ever aware of every movement on the street.

She spun on her toe and slipped down a shady alley.

"Greetings Child." A voice spoke out of the shadows. "I have waited here for many days – not knowing on which you would arrive."

Wanda stopped short. The woman appeared non-threatening enough. She was older and wore her white hair up in a bun. 

"Bug off lady. I've got things to do and I'm no one to cross." Wanda's eyes burned as she spoke and she threatened menacingly with her hands.

"Indeed. You have much to accomplish and little time to do it." The woman smiled kindly. "Family business if I'm not mistaken." Her eyes seemed to flash with insight and understanding.

"How do you know that?" Wanda demanded softly. Under her breath.

"I know many things my dear Wanda." The woman smiled. "Like how close to death Magneto is at this very moment."

Wanda's jaw went slack as did her posture. Her entire plan depended on secrecy and if this woman was any indication – she had none.

"Ahh, your attention at last." The woman gave her a grandmotherly stare. "Now, now." She took Wanda's hand and patted it softly. "We've much to do and it's not safe for you on the streets. If Mystique or The Brotherhood were to see you …"

"Yes." Wanda agreed slowly. "I understand."

"Then come." The woman told her. "I have a car near by and a warm home on the way."

"On the way?" Wanda eyed her. 

"Oh yes. On the way to your destiny child. I am here to help you prepare. It's a part of what I do." She explained. "And you may call me Agatha my dear. Agatha Hartly."

And the woman smiled again, but this time, Wanda sensed in her a power and authority beyond the reach most. Her smile suddenly looked like a falsehood. It was a mask of a much greater being. Wanda was sure of it.

Agatha took the initiative and drew Wanda down the alley towards her large dark can with it's flat black windows.

"Value your privacy much?" Wanda asked, seating herself inside and gesturing to the glass.

"I do indeed." Agatha said, indicating that the driver that she was ready. "But this was done for a friend." She whispered. "Poor vampires. Quite the persecuted minority." She continued. "Simply the Mutant, or Magician of yesterday." 

She turned on Wanda with an icy stare. "But we know all about that, now don't we?"

Wanda found her intimidating, but refreshing. She could tell that Agatha was something she never had in her life before. She was open, honest and - unlike Xavier who shared those qualities – Agatha seemed to be on her side.

"How did you know where to find me?" Wanda asked.

"I dreamed of you last August." She said. "I saw you pass down the alley, and then, sitting in a bar with a friend in three days time."

"Did you see me as successful?' She asked "Where my father is concerned?"

"Oh, yes." She smiled. "He will be difficult to reach and even more so to isolate and disable, but mark my words child – his fate is entirely _in your hands_."

Wanda sat stunned. "How do I know that you're not just telling me what I want to hear?"

And Agatha smiled slowly. "I will show you." She said softly. "I have not come here to force myself upon you. I have come to aid you on your path. I will earn your trust. Have no worries child. I am asking for nothing until I have proven my friendship."

Friendship … Wanda relaxed slightly, despite herself. "And what will you ask of me then?" She ventured.

"Your friendship in return, of course." She smiled. "I have seen many of your possible futures since August last. And I know enough to know that our relation will serve us both well for many years to come."

"So I am doing the right thing? By coming here?" Wanda asked suddenly.

"Right or wrong …" Agatha paused. "Are very selective terms." She paused, straitening her clothes slightly. "I prefer to recognize the truth. You need to confront your father in the way you intend. Your history so far has not allowed you the undisturbed moment that you need to conclude this business."

Wanda nodded slowly.

"Your soul is my concern here child. It is stagnating and dying under the weight of your past. Your own growth demands that this matter be dealt with." Agatha fanned herself idly with one hand. "Driver, please, turn the heat down just a touch."

He did as he was asked.

"You sounded like Xavier for a moment there." She smiled. "I thought you were about to start bantering around words like 'closure', 'forgiveness' or 'therapy'."

"Oh, I have thought you've had enough of that by now." Agatha smiled sympathetically. "But the rules are very much the same – when you're comparing psychology to spiritual development."

"Just what is the difference?" Wanda questioned.

"Psychology is very intellectual. It's rule oriented and, in my opinion, frequently mind numbing." Her eyes seemed to twinkle as she spoke. "Spirituality however comes from our emotions – we feel something is true before we come to understand it and have it impact our lives. Psychology tries to shortcut across the emotions. They just deliver lessons and hope they serve as real experiences. Spirituality comes from living the life that provides the lessons on it's own." 

She nodded slightly. "But you shall see." She informed her. "This is to be a great spiritual journey for you Wanda. I envy you. Our first spiritual journey is always impressive, and I fear that too many years have passed for me to remember what it was like to be walking in to that world for the first time."

Agatha sighed. "And your journey will be over Wanda – when you come again to your beginnings." She nodded.

"You make it sound like I'm going in circles." Wanda observed.

Agatha laughed out loud. "Oh child, we are all going in circles. But when you arrive again in the place of your beginnings and you know it for the first time – then at the very least – you are aware of the circle – and your inner worth is increased by understanding. This allows us to choose and create other circles – rather than having them chosen for us." She nodded again. 

"But as I said before – We shall see."

And with that the car turned down a long wooded driveway and the sun vanished behind a thick wall of trees. The old and impressive house sat at the end of a gravel driveway. All around the home stood great thick trees. The home seemed to be bathed in eternal evening.

Wanda stepped out and turned her attention to a man on the property. He was sitting, crouched on his ankles, under one of the great Pine trees. His face was lost in the shadow.

"Agatha." Wanda cautioned her. "There's someone over there – under that tree."

"Oh, yes." Agatha smiled. "That's Sonny. He's waiting for the car to return."

"Driver!" She called in to the car. "Pull up under the pines and take sonny out to Laughten Place Cemetery."

The driver pulled on toward the trees.

"Laughten Place?" Wanda asked. "I've been there. Great cemetery. Old stones."

Agatha smiled and nodded repeatedly. "I do love the place myself. That's how I met Sonny."

"Is he a groundskeeper or something?" Wanda asked as Agatha steered her up the front stairs.

"Goodness no." Agatha smirked at the idea. "Sonny's a worthless lay-about for the most part." She sighed. "If he wasn't a vampire – he'd be no good to anyone I imagine. He keeps a crypt in Laughten. He thinks it's a nice neighborhood." 

Wanda stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look Back as Agatha passed her and opened the front door. But there was nothing left to see. The car was already slipping around the corner and disappearing down the long and rustic driveway.


	5. Of Hearth and Home CH05 Wishful Sinful

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Five: Wishful Sinful

Derek sauntered slowly down the hall. The mansion was quiet – as everyone was in school.

He smiled at the memory of the morning rush. What began as a lazy stirring of people soon culminated in to a veritable frenzy of activity that – at it's very apex – vanished; leaving him alone.

Well, mostly. Logan was downstairs reading the newspaper and he had seen Professor X slip quietly in to his study. And he was certain that there were others – strewn about the mansion.

Derek stopped and admired the clock in the hall. It was obviously an antique. It stood near as tall as he did and was made of a deep red wood that had taken so much polish over the years that it reflected his image.

Finally, after drinking it in he let his eyes crawl over the face of the clock. 

He paused. Reading the hands was difficult for him and he furrowed his brow.

He understood the clock – Meaning that he understood it was an instrument for measuring time and keeping appointments. It was the face that threw him. 

The amount of time between the hands seemed to be dwindling like fire while the larger area was flowing across the face of the clock like an ocean. It was an equation in his mind – less fire meant more water – it was obvious.

What seemed ludicrous to him was to meter out your day by firelight and the flow of water.

He stood for a moment and let his mind spiral and soar out of control as it traced the path of the hands both forward and backwards as he stared at it. 

And then he found it – the rhythm of the clock.

He felt the idea strike him. It was as though someone snapped a towel between his eyes and with the 'snap' he saw the point – the thing the clock maker had intended people to know.

It was ten minutes until nine.

He sighed and let the relief of understanding wash over him. 

At the same time he felt the subtle fire of expectation begin to burn within him. He was supposed to meet with Xavier at nine.

A small smile pulled at his mouth. With the relief washing over him and the fire burning within he suddenly wondered what people saw in his face – Because he felt like the clock.

"I'm on fire." He whispered softly. (1)

He turned his attention back down the hall and extended his hand with the fingers spread wide. Slowly, and with great precision, he lowered his fingers one by one in to his hand. When he had made a fist, a door creaked open, just around the corner, at the end of the hall.

He smiled to himself as he started down the hall.

She took two steps without looking and he let her walk right in to him. Then he caught her and kept her from falling.

"Oh!" Storm caught her balance. "Excuse me." She smiled softly. It was not as he had seen her through the window, but it was a start.

He looked her up and down once, as though seeing her for the first time, then he rolled his tongue and purred at her affectionately.

Her smile stayed but turned a little coy. "You're the mutant who followed Logan home, aren't you?" She asked.

That was close enough for him. He shrugged and spread his arms as if to say "Here I am."

She eyed him carefully. She had to. She understood the look in his eye. He was interested in her and she knew it.

"Well," She admitted. "You are cute … _for a stray_."

He leaned back, very casually, and considered her.

"What are you thinking?" She asked.

"Brown - Sugar." He spoke slowly and smiled wide. (2)

Storm nodded once. "I see." She smiled lightly and in good humor. "Not that you would know." She added. "Or are likely to find out."

He shrugged again – this time with almost a dedicated indifference. And then he smirked as he glanced at the clock.

"Oh, _that_ I understood _mister_." She turned on him and struck a pose with her fists on her hips. She wasn't in fact sure that she understood him – but she has had enough experience with men to know that when you shoot one down he shouldn't tell you "I've got time yet." Or "The night is still young." 

He held his hands up between them in a mock surrender but never lost his smile.

"It's all right." She eyed him. "_This_ time."

She took two steps toward the stairs and felt his eyes on her rear. She had taught enough classes to the testosterone factories that Xavier calls students to trust that feeling. She turned back to face him – but he was gone. He had vanished back down the hall.

Storm looked back in disbelief at the empty hall. Silently she chided herself for encouraging him. But then she found herself flattered by the attention.

__

It was just a little flirting. She told herself. _ And after all ..._ She considered. _Who's he going to tell?_

Derek bounced playfully down the stairs. He had managed to step away just before Storm had turned to look for him.

"Hey there ..." Beast called to him, then paused. "You _need_ a name." He decided.

"Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name!" He sang as he slid the rest of the way down the handrail. (3)

"You're in a good mood." Hank smiled. "I was coming to look for you. I wanted to make sure you were on time for your appointment with Xavier."

Derek nodded several times and grinned wide.

"What side of the bed did you get up on this morning?" Hank asked him.

"Stormy weather …" He sang back and grinned. (4)

"Ahhh," Beast smiled back. "You've met Ms. Ororo Munroe." 

"And like a blessing come from heaven, for something like a second, I was healed and my heart was at ease." Derek smirked and cast a glance back up the stairs as he sighed. (5)

"Yes." Hank agreed. "I can see where you might say that. She's quite … _impressive_." 

Derek smirked and cocked his head to one side. He then held his hands between them and indicated an exchange.

"Yes." Hank was glad that Derek had noticed. "Kurt gave me a few pointers."

Derek clasped his hand on to Hanks large shoulder and shook him affectionately. Not many people made the effort to understand him and he was grateful.

Hank could feel the understanding behind the gesture and he was touched. Briefly he thought of Xavier's description of Derek's condition. Somehow 'frustrating' just didn't seem to cover it. Then his mind shot back to his discussion with Kurt last night.

"He talks in poetry." Kurt had said, amazed that it wasn't obvious. "It's like reading Shakespeare. The vords aren't perfect but the images and da feelings are there. Like vhen you would speak gibberish as a child. It wasn't even a real language – but you knew vhat you meant and you could get da point across."

It was the Shakespeare reference that had opened it up for Hank. He had long ago developed his 'ear' for the old English literature. And he was sure that Kurt was right – all it would take is the effort.

"Anytime." Hank whispered softly between them.

Derek took a deep breath and drew himself up to his full height. His eyes were glassy, as though wet with new tears.

"Come on." Hank said. "The Professor's probably waiting by now."

Derek nodded his agreement as he gestured for Hank to lead the way. And then he followed, close behind.

1) I'm on Fire – Bruce Springsteen

2) Brown Sugar – Rolling Stones

3) Sympathy for the Devil – Rolling Stones

4) Stormy Weather – Harold Arlen

5) Light as the Breeze - Leonard Cohen


	6. Of Hearth and Home CH06 Bad Moon Risin...

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Six: Bad Moon Rising

The short school week that led up to Christmas Vacation was always a lazy one at Bayville High. Teachers knew better than to expect any stellar performances and more than one class dissolved in to study halls, free periods or general discussions about the season.

"Hey Kitty!" Lance slipped in to the desk behind hers and leaned forward. "How long you in town for during the break?"

"Like, almost not at all." She cast a glance over her shoulder. Lance looked like he'd been working out lately. "Buuuuuuut … I am coming back two days before school starts." She smiled sweetly as she turned to face him.

"Well keep the first one open." He smiled. "We can go skating when you get back."

"That would, like, totally rule!" She gushed just a bit.

"Yeah." Todd announced, bounding over to slip up behind Lance. "If Mystique decides to let us off restriction by then."

"Hey," Lance told him. "I'll go if I want to. I saw that dude she was freaking-out over. And he didn't look like any kind of trouble I've ever seen. And we haven't seen him since. I think she's paranoid."

"Who are you two talking about?" Rogue asked, looking up from her book.

Lance shook his head. "Some new mutant that's in town. Mystique says she knows him but we're all supposed to steer clear. She's nuts. She thinks she sees him once a day – like he's making appearances just to let her know he's still around. Personally, I think it's some kind of holiday guilt and she just wants all of us at home. Take it from me, once the holiday is over, she'll be fine and this dude will have disappeared."

"That's too weird." Kitty said.

"Yeah." Rogue spit the word "And if she's showing signs of guilt then hell's frozen over."

Kitty considered for a moment. "She's right Lance, if Mystique says to stay away from him, I would."

"So we'll avoid him together." Lance leaned in close and smiled slyly.

Kitty melted under his attention and blushed.

"If just one of you says the word 'mistletoe' I am leaving." Rogue grumbled and looked back to her book.

"Tell me about it Sweet-Stuff." Todd said to Rogue. "You should have heard him practicing his this skating speech all morning."

"Why you ..." Lance took a half-hearted swing at Todd while he eyed the instructor who eyed him warily and warningly back.

"I wont forget that." He told Todd.

"Wish I could." Todd said back before dropping his voice to a low baritone. "Hi there Kitty, I've been falling on my butt all week, learning to skate and I thought …"

Lance growled and light dust began to drift down off the ceiling tiles while the room began to vibrate under his rage.

Until Kitty laid her hand on Lance's and squeezed. "I'd love to go." She told him. "And I think it's sweet." She smiled as the room settled again. "All of it."

Lance blushed lightly along his cheekbones.

"And you." She turned on Todd. "Are not invited."

"Oh, that's it, break my heart." Todd replied sarcastically. "I was even gonna bring the mistletoe."

Rogue turned and cut him a nasty glare.

"Right." Todd told her. "Forgot bout the mistletoe. Sorry." He smiled quickly and shrugged.

"Oh, she gets an apology?" Lance eyed Todd who had slipped out of arms reach.

"Sure." He said. "Ticking her off was accidental." And then he hopped back to his seat.

Rogue returned to her book and lowered her head before she smiled.

"So Mystique has been keeping The Brotherhood at home, hunh?" Kitty prodded.

"Yeah." Lance flexed his arms. "I've been working out."

Rogue rolled her eyes and tried to focus on the narrative in front of her.

"I could take that Pyro-lookin' punk if he did show up." Lance boasted.

Rogue sat up strait and looked at Kitty.

"What?" Kitty asked.

"Pyro-lookin'?" Rogue asked "Like as in his hair?"

"Yeah." Lance sat back and eyed her. "Why?"

"Maybe six foot or six-two?" Rogue ventured. "Dark hair and a beard? Kinda thin for his size?"

"Yeah, that could be him." Lance nodded. "You seen him or something? He's supposed to be dangerous. Mystique called him 'deadly'."

Rogue's eyes opened wide and she looked at Kitty- only to find Kitty mirroring her expression.

"Don't tell me." Lance guessed. "He's some new recruit of Xavier's, right?"

"No." Kitty breathed in a soft panic. "But he is at the mansion."

"He just wandered up one day and ended up staying." Rogue volunteered, not aware of the full story.

"Well, Mystique uses words real well." Lance told them. "And if she says deadly, she means it." He turned to Kitty and took her hands in his. "Promise me you'll be careful?" He asked.

Rogue shook her head and caught the instructor's eye. "May ah be excused? I just realized ah NEED to call home, right away."

The instructor considered for a moment. "Sure." He said at last. "Just hurry up. No more than fifteen minutes, all right?"

"Sure." She forced a smile. "That's plenty."

"Write out a pass." He told her.

A moment later Rogue was down the hall, fishing for change in her small backpack. "Wanda." She interrupted Wanda's phone call. "Ah'm sorry, but ah really need to call home. It's an emergency."

Wanda considered for a second. Once she was too wild and angry to ever approach for a favor but now, while she still copped some attitude, turned in to the phone and said "I'll have to call you back. Some x-dweeb is throwing a fit over the phone."

The deep rumbling voice replied something softly and she smiled. "Okay. I'll see you then." She smiled. "I love you."

And after another brief rumble, she hung up the phone.

"All yours." She sneered at Rogue slightly, just for fun.

"Thanks. Ah won't mention it." Rogue stepped past her and took the phone off the cradle.

It rang and rang again. She had lost count of how many times. "Please, please pick up!" She whispered softly.

Click!

"Hello." Wolverine grumbled "Xavier institute."

"Logan!" Rogue breathed heavily. "Ah just found out that Mystique knows who our mysterious stranger is – but – she's afraid of him. She told The Brotherhood to stay away from him. She's even been keeping them at home because she knows he's in town. She said he's dangerous Logan, she called him 'deadly'. "

She paused for what seemed like a long moment.

"Okay." He said through clenched teeth. "Don't worry. I'm on it."

And the phone in her hand went dead.

Rogue hung up the phone and turned around to find Wanda standing right behind her.

"Rogue, listen …" She paused. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't have given you such a hard time if I had known it was really important."

"That's what 'emergency' means." Rogue told her, her own teeth clenched more than normal.

Wanda shrugged. "At my place the word gets thrown around a lot. Like I said, I'm sorry, okay?"

Rogue made herself soften just a bit. "Yeah. Me too. I was just wound up."

Wanda smiled. "It's cool. I get it. That's your family up there – and the rules are different when it comes to family."

"Well, … Yeah." Rogue was surprised to hear Wanda say such a thing. "And thanks for the phone."

"Good luck." Wanda looked sympathetic. "And I hope you don't need it."

Rogue was about to walk away but stopped short. "Thanks." She said softly. "Me too."

But back at the mansion, luck was in short supply.

Wolverine smelled the blood and his hair bristled and stood up all over his body. He turned and focused on the hallway noises just two rooms away and he began to move quickly through the mansion.

The smell of Xavier's blood was maddening. Logan's worst fear was that some charity case the Professor opened his doors to wouldn't be the kind of guy you'd want around. Xavier was soft like that. Toad, Lance, and now this last guy …

He pushed open the doors and felt his blood run cold. 

Xavier lay limp and covered in blood. Derek's arms were wrapped under Xavier's as though he was trying to pull him through the mansion. Xavier was still and lifeless, his eyes open and vacant.

For the space of one heartbeat, Logan and Derek's eyes met. 

Logan looked wild and vengeful.

Derek looked like he understood completely.

Wolverine heard himself roar out vocally above the rush of blood that filled his ears. He seemed only to lean forward and his claws flew out as he effortlessly closed the distance between them.

The door to Logan's left seemed to be opening in slow motion and Derek was retreating, letting the body slide to the floor between them.

"Dear lord … _no_!" Beast exclaimed through the now open door upon seeing the scene. And the 'no' echoed horribly through his mind refusing to mean anything but 'yes'.


	7. Of Hearth and Home CH07 The Dangling C...

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Seven: The Dangling Conversation

Kurt approached slowly and respectfully.

Derek was sitting on the ground facing the small lake on the back lawn. He turned and Kurt could see the pain on his face. Derek tried to smile but it was wavy and forced.

"May I join you?" Kurt asked slowly while gesturing to the ground.

Derek dropped his head and scooted over just a bit as though he were making room. Kurt crouched down to sit on his ankles.

"Beast told me about vhat happened dis morning vis Xavier." He began. "And I'm sorry."

Derek nodded and struck his fist to his chest than displayed two fingers.

"You too." Kurt said softly. "I get it."

Derek turned his eyes back to the waves on the lake. 

"There vas no vay to know." Kurt told him. "And if dere had been a vay – Xavier vould have been da one to know."

Derek nodded just to prove he was listening.

"Dis isn't your fault" Kurt whispered to him. "It vas an accident."

"Five to one baby, one in five." (1) Derek said softly. 

Kurt could hear the grief in his tone. "Okay." He conceeded "Partially. _Maybe_. But you cant do anything more than just being yourself. Hanymore den Xavier could." Kurt sighed. "It vas just one of those stu-pid things vhere you make no mistakes and still fail at de task."

Derek brightened slightly and almost smiled but still didn't take his eyes off the water.

Kurt debated asking his next question but finally decided to. "Did Logan really come after you outside the infirmary?"

Kurt's words drew Derek back to the incident. He was lost in the memory of seeing those Adamantium claws leap from Wolverine's hands. The echo of the 'snickt' that filled the hall now filled his mind. He could almost smell the little man's sweat and feel the angry heat that was flowing off his skin as he had lunged at Derek.

Derek nodded absently. 

"Hank said you stayed out of his reach, just a little ahead of him da whole time?"

Derek turned to Kurt and lifted his shirt. He had a six-inch scratch over his left hip – but it was only a scratch. "One jump ahead of the breadline. One swing ahead of the sword." (2)

Kurt smiled but pressed on. "I have trained vith Lo-gan. He's not an easy person to avoid ven he's on de attack."

Derek shot him an understanding look that told Kurt he agreed completely.

"And Beast broke it up?" Kurt guessed. Beast hadn't told him so but he did say that he 'had better things to do at the moment than come between the two of them'.

Derek nodded and sighed.

"Logan vill re-gret dis vhen Xavier recovers." Kurt told him. "He's a good man. But his life has alvays been about pain. He may heal fast, but da vounds still hurt. And ve have to for-give him when he's hurting or vhen he lashes out because he hurts. Just like vis anyone else."

Kurt paused. "Can you forgive him?" He asked quietly.

Derek nodded, parhaps a bit begrudgingly, before tapping himself on the chest and shaking his head 'no'.

"Just learn da lesson and let it go." Kurt said imploringly. "Now, you know - it isn't safe for a telepath to try to scan your mind. And you'll have to respect that fact in the future." Kurt steeled himself against sighing and continued. "But it's not fair to punish yourself for not knowing something you vere never taught." 

Derek sighed. "I wanna be Bob Dylan." (3) He said flatly, staring in to the water.

"Don't ve all – from time to time?" Kurt smirked.

Derek jumped once with an unexpected inner laugh then he sighed. "I have to praise you." (4) He said, sticking his hand out for Kurt to shake. "You get me closer to God." (5)

Kurt took it with a smile. Derek's grip was suprisingly solid.

"Don't _mention_ it." Kurt grinned slightly.

Derek rolled his eyes dramatically.

"I mean it." Kurt grinned on, pressing his bad joke. "Don't say a vord!"

Derek shook his head. The jokes may have been bad, but it was the first humor he had felt since Xavier collapsed this morning.

"Yakity Yak." (6) Derek looked away, shaking his head absently.

"Don't talk back!" Kurt finished for him. "I varned you about that already."

Derek glanced back towards the mansion. He really didn't want to go back in to the house.

"All is quiet on the eastern front." (7) It was a statement but a question too.

"Ja." Kurt agreed. "Hank said he'd send word when Xavier improved."

Derek liked the way Kurt said 'when' instead of 'if'. The memory hovered around his fragile good humor and threatened to engulf him again.

He could almost see Xavier, jolting backwards and upright, then sliding down the chair as the blood began to flow from his nose, his eyes open wide and focused on nothing …

Derek swallowed. "Why'd you chose such a backward time in such a strange land?" (8) He asked.

Kurt grinned wide. "I love it here. It's da best place for someone like me. It's everything I thought was beyond me because of my appearance." 

Kurt dropped his head and stared at the edge of the lake where the water was lapping at the earth. "I never told anyvone dis … but dere vere … _bad times_. Enough to fill days on end for years – or maybe it just seems dat vay now." He swallowed and continued. "And vhen I came here – my life changed. All of it – for da better."

Derek motioned for him to continue and sat listening in rapt attention.

"I thought I vould spend my life alone - and in the shadows. It felt obvious." He smiled at how absurd a notion it was now. "And vhen I came here and made friends – I thought I vas in heaven. Den? Something wonderful happened. Not only vas I accepted and happy – but Xavier saw to it that ve had da chance to make a difference in the vorld." He seemed to beam at the memories. "I have _saved people's lives_ here. Just like Xavier saved mine from being a vaste."

"Whew." Derek breathed. 

"Ja." Kurt agreed. "And now I know – no matter vhat – dat my life is important – not only to me and da people who love me – but to the vorld. To everyone who comes after me too. It's really … a miracle. Dat a person who thought he could never even be a part of da world – can be vital and can actually help to save it."

Derek smiled softly, but with a profound look of understanding. "Home, sweet home." (9)

"Exactly." Kurt breathed the word with a grin. "And trust me – Xavier isn't done yet either."

1) The Doors – Five To One

2) Aladdin (Disney) – One Jump Ahead

3) Counting Crows - Mr. Jones

4) Fat Boy Slim - Praise You

5) Nine Inch Nails - Closer

6) The Coasters - Yakity Yak

7) Ramones – All is Quiet on the Eastern Front

8) Jesus Christ Superstar (musical) - Superstar

9) Motley Crew – Home Sweet Home


	8. Of Hearth and Home CH08 You Can't Alwa...

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Eight: You Can't Always Get What You Want.

Wanda took long, slow steps as she wandered the halls of Bayville High. Vaguely, she felt as though she were in trouble. Of course, she was not. But when word came via Pietro to call her father immediately, she did think that something was wrong.

But, short of asking what she had been doing and if she was comfortable at the brotherhood house, the conversation left her with the impression that he was extremely pleased with her.

She smiled a small guilty pout of a smile. 

One of the taller and more slender seniors stepped out of her locker and cocked an eyebrow at Wanda. "Shouldn't you be in class?" She asked in Mystique's voice.

Wanda glanced quickly around the hall. No one else was around.

"Mystique?" She asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Keeping my eye on things, as usual." She replied coldly. "I don't know what you're doing here if you're not going to class. You might as well be at home."

"You mean under lock and key." Wanda shot back.

Mystique sighed. "I promise you that once he's gone …"

"You'll throw us out for a week, I know. I remember. But what if this guy isn't leaving?" _Or isn't real?_

"He has to leave. He can't sit still." Mystique looked distractedly down the hall behind her.

Wanda raised an eyebrow and Mystique set her fists to her hips. "Listen, I know him. He'll stick around until he's finished what he came for, but then he's got plans to move on to and things to do elsewhere. He's like that. Forever in motion."

"Who is he?" Wanda asked, suddenly curious if this mystery mutant might have something to do with her fathers non-emergency phone call today.

"He's a musician." Mystique said quietly.

Wanda shook her head in disbelief. "What?"

"A musician." Mystique said again softly. "And he shouldn't have ever been anything else. But I tried to make him something more, once. And it was a mistake."

Mystique's eyes narrowed. "Imagine your father." Mystique told her. "With all his power, strength and determination. It's a proud picture, isn't it?"

Wanda nodded hesitantly.

"Now imagine him turning on us." Mystique swallowed hard. "At close range."

Wanda suddenly understood. "It's a grudge, isn't it? Whatever it is that you did – he's still angry." 

Mystique shook her head. "No. It's just still … important to him. And he's been warning me to stay away – but that goes for all of you as well. He'll be able to see that we're connected, it's a part of his gift. And if he thinks, even for an instant that attacking one of you is actually attacking me …"

Her voice shook and wavered. 

"He'll do it." Wanda understood and the hair stood up on the back of her neck. "Just like … if he wanted to hurt you … he might hurt Rogue, or Nightcrawler?"

Mystique almost laughed. "With Xavier around? I doubt he could get close enough. I even considered sending the Brotherhood to the mansion if he attacks before Magneto can get here tonight."

"Mystique." Wanda breathed. "Rogue just told me, he's at the mansion. He's been there all week. She just called home and told Logan that the guy was dangerous."  
  
Mystique's eyes were wide and her jaw went slack.

"But .. I think it's okay. Rogue just warned them. A few periods ago. They'll know now." She was trying to sound comforting when the bell rang.

The hall seemed to explode with noise as an ocean of people suddenly surrounded and separated them. Wanda lost Mystique in the rush.

A moment later a slight Hispanic boy emerged at Wanda's elbow. "Come on." He said in Mystique's voice. "I just called your father. He's contacting Xavier. I'm supposed to get the rest of you home."

Mystique shoved her out the door and herded her over towards her car. A few moments later the car was packed full and they were slipping out of the parking lot and in to traffic.

Wanda sat, pressed up against the door, with Todd pressed up against her on the other side.

Pietro was running his mouth about seatbelts as they slipped out past the suburbs.

Suddenly, Wanda began to feel a piercing headache behind her nose. 

She pressed her fingers to her face over the pain but it only got worse. Soon it seemed to be accompanied by a high pitched whine that sounded like dolphin chatter.

"Ahhh, cuddle-bumps?" Todd prodded. "Are you all right?"

A voice rose out of the Dolphin Chatter. It was her voice, but angry. "Do I look all right you insect?" She heard herself ask.

Pietro was looking back over the seat now, and Lance, who was pressed between Pietro and Mystique, had turned his attention backward as well.

'Whoa." Todd said. "You haven't called me that since …" But his thought was lost.

"What is it?" Mystique demanded. "What's wrong?"

The headache was echoing and banging about inside her head now. It was as though someone had taken her mind and filled it with static or stereo feedback.

"I DON'T KNOW." She admitted through clenched teeth. "But it's getting worse!" She hissed.

Mystique slammed on the gas. "Don't worry, we'll be home in a minute."

Todd glanced worriedly at Wanda and laid a hand comfortingly on her shoulder. He glanced out the window to see a car with flat, black windows creeping slowly up a shady driveway.

A moment later, as the sped away, the effect seemed to subside, and by the time they stepped out of the car, it was nothing more than a residual headache.

"I don't understand it." Wanda shook her head. "It was so bad that I couldn't see for a few minutes there."

"Just lie down for a while." Mystique told her. "We'll discuss it tonight." 

Wanda turned to go upstairs but was stopped by Todd. He shrugged apathetically and offered her a bottle of Tylenol. 

"Todd." She said softly. "And I'm sorry about before. In the car." She said. "I was way out of line."

Todd smiled an odd little grin. "No problemo." He assured her. "Just feel better, okay?"

"Okay." She smiled slightly and took the bottle from him. "Thanks." 

But back in town, up a shady drive, another Wanda stood, her hands braced on either side of the sink, her teeth set and her jaw locked in place.

It was everything she could do to keep her focus and not pass out. 

Agatha smiled in to the mirror from over her shoulder. "Not very pleasant, is it?" Agatha asked.

Wanda's glare seemed to demand answers.

"Oh, my dear, don't you know? That's your father's secret weapon." She smiled. "And it's no coincidence that it will strike you down faster than anyone else who stands in his way." She smiled sweetly. "And I believe that it means he will be coming tonight!"

Wanda was breathing heavily and her eyes were wide and wild. "Then, tonight, one of us will die." Wanda hissed.

"Oh, my yes." Agatha smiled as she nodded. "Quite possible, indeed."


	9. Of Hearth and Home CH09 Who Are You

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Nine: Who Are You?

It was roughly an hour after Kurt first settled himself near Derek and the Lake that Beast's news reached them; Xavier was awake and coherent again. And he wanted to speak to 'his guest'.

Kurt could feel the weight of Derek's heavy heart as they trudged across the cold earth of the back property.

Kurt noticed the other students as they passed. Some looked sympathetic – as though they could understand how they would feel if they had hurt Xavier by accident when they first came here. But these expressions were few among a sea of faces. Most fell in to one of two categories – Angry, or Uneasy.

The realization came to his mind that he had only seen three other X-Men spend any time at all with his new friend. _They just don't know him yet._ Kurt told himself. _They'll see._

Derek's mood didn't break until the last door swung open to reveal Xavier's smiling face.

The relief was obvious as his steps became lighter, his trademark smile reappeared and grew in to a grin, and he seemed to grow by several inches as he crossed the room with a terrific enthusiasm.

"Lovely to see you again." (1) Derek breathed, taking Xavier's hand and pumping it.

Xavier smiled, almost embarrassed at the affection.

"Kurt, would you excuse us?" Xavier asked. "We are long overdue on our Nine AM meeting."

And Kurt grinned, seeing now that it would all be okay, he slipped out with a silent wave to Beast who was sitting quietly and thoughtfully in the corner of the room.

As the door eased closed Derek laughed like he never had a care in the world. Kurt watched him through the diminishing entryway. Kurt stopped closing the door and stood in awe. He was sure. He had seen this man before, a long time ago. But something wasn't quite right.

He held up his hand, to cover the man's beard at a distance. Then he held out his thumb to cover his hair.

And it hit him!

He dropped his hands in shock and then absently covered his gaping mouth with his right hand.

Kurt closed the door carefully and quietly, then teleported up to his room.

Very slowly, Kurt opened his bag. It was everything he had brought with him to the Xavier Institute. The robe the monks had given him, his clothes from his life before, mostly tailored by his adopted mother to include either holes or room for a tail. And then, in the bottom of the bag, he found them.

His tapes. 

How many days, weeks, or months had he spent burying himself in his headphones when outside contact was impossible? He couldn't say. But his music had been one of many over-indulgences that had become lifelines when he needed them. 

Most of his music was American in origin, as it had been trendy and fashionable in Germany while he was growing up. 

And then he found it. 

The Band was called Sabbath Night. The name of the album was Rhythm's Slave. And on the inside, when you unfolded the lyrics, was a concert shot of the band. Four men on a stage, in the throws of the music, surrounded by the smoke, sparks and flame of a monster stage show.

And there, a drumstick in each hand, clean-shaven and longhaired, was the unmistakably blue eyes of Calvin Carlyle.

"Right." Kurt whispered, remembering the story. "He disappeared." 

Kurt absently placed one of his thick fingers to his lip as he stared at the worn out photo.

__

They all talked about it. It was in all the papers. He vanished onstage at a concert in front of everyone.   
  
That much he was sure of.

"And no one has seen him since." He whispered out loud. 

__

Wasn't there something about an electrical fire, or a fireworks display that went wrong?

His mind wavered. He had been interested at the time, but the details were hard to come by back in the day.

"Calvin." Kurt whispered it out loud just to hear the name. Then he turned slowly with a maddening precision toward the desktop computer on his desk.

"Calvin Carlyle, meet my curiosity." He grinned to himself. "Curiosity, meet Calvin Carlyle."

Two hours later, Kurt drifted off to sleep at his desk, his head resting on his notebook which was now full of scribbled notes about the mysterious disappearance of Calvin Carlyle.

At the same moment, downstairs, Beast and Xavier were enjoying a private conversation after having finished their meeting with 'Calvin'.

"You see." Xavier began. "I see most minds as something akin to spider-webs. Some are large and intricate, others simple yet effective, but they are always vast and wide enough that I may drift through without harming the threads or the design."

"Yes…" Hank spoke slowly and imagined himself flying effortlessly over the web of a life.

Xavier agreed. "And when I tried to contact him telepathically …"

"I wouldn't advise that again Charles. As your doctor" Hank nodded, concerned.

"Trust me, I wont." Xavier agreed. "It was quite … alien. To me at any rate."

Xavier shook off the feeling of the strange mans mind. "But his mind, it wasn't webbed at all. It was thick, like a heavy rope. All the strands touching and running together."

"No where to move." Beast observed.

"I slammed in to the surface and lost myself in it's complexity." Xavier nodded solemnly. "It was frightening. But, as a consolation, I do believe I understand his ability now."

"It's balance and agility, isn't it?" Beast asked. "When Logan attacked …"

"On the surface perhaps. But I believe that his real ability is pattern recognition." Xavier smiled slyly.

"Pattern recognition?" Beast asked. "Are you sure?"

"Quite." Xavier finally relaxed. "That's why his mind was so thick. Most people have webs – single strands that stand at angles to the others. He had filled in the area's between his memories with the recognition of the patterns that connect them."

Hank nodded and shifted in the chair across Xavier's desk. 

"I still cant be sure." Xavier explained. "But if I had to make a guess, I'd say that his mutation rewired his brain in a completely foreign manner. The fact that he can relate to and understand the people around him at all is incredible."

Beast exhaled slowly. "While he's ready to do just that. We asked why he was here and he gave me a blood sample that answered our question. He and Kurt chat about anything the wish and I saw him teaching Multiple how to play the piano yesterday." Beast smiled a weary smile. "Personally, I think he's just given up on trying to explain things until it's absolutely necessary."

Xavier stopped short. "I hadn't thought of that." He admitted with a little grin. "It puts most of his … unique traits in to perspective."

"He lives an unexplained life Charles. He only answers to himself." Beast sat back quietly. "I wonder what a life like that might be like."

"No appointments." Xavier smiled.

"No breaking bad news." Beast added.

"No lies. Not even the little white ones like saying you're 'fine' when you're really upset." Xavier countered.

"No way to say how much you love someone?" Beast questioned. "Or even to defend yourself verbally?" He added.

Both men scowled just a touch. Recriminations were common place in a world of mutants and men. To imagine anyone left without a voice to raise in their own defense …

Hank shook off the uncomfortable thought. _Surely, there must be something we can do for him …_

But he couldn't imagine what.

"Do you think we can get him to try some danger room sessions?" Xavier's eyes seemed to twinkle. "I'd love to see … What he can do." He finished after a pause.

"I can't imagine the number of danger room sessions it would take to get an accurate assessment of his abilities." Hank replied. "He's bound to recognize the firing and attack patterns in short order if that's his gift."

Xavier nodded. "Let's ask him" He decided. "If he'll do it first, and how we should proceed second."

"I doubt anyone's written a song to answer that musical question Charles." Beast smiled another relieved smile.

"Maybe not." Xavier replied. "Or maybe we've just never heard it before."

1) Moody Blues – Lovely To See You (Again, my friend)


	10. Of Hearth and Home CH10 Live and Let D...

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Ten: Live and Let Die

Pietro zipped down the hall and stopped quickly to stand perfectly still, framed by Wanda's doorway.

She was lying down with a wet wash cloth over her eyes. She lifted it just in time to see some of the litter that Pietro had stirred in his travels, as it caught up to him and stuck to him briefly in the remnants of the breeze.

It seemed that a thread or some dust had managed to hit his tongue, as he began – hesitantly at first – to try to spit it out.

Wanda laughed to herself. Her head felt much better, almost as though nothing was wrong, and the floorshow was pretty good. Pietro inherited his 'royal' attitude from their father. He just didn't impress all the litter and filth with his importance. A problem Magneto rarely seems to face.

"Are you trying to cheer me up?" Wanda asked suspiciously.

"If it's working, then yes, that's exactly what I was doing." He struck a pose with his arms extended. "Ta-Da!" He grinned.

She sat up and laughed. They shared many such moments as children.

"Wow." He said quietly. "I missed that." He smiled at her. "I mean …"

"I know what you mean." She told him. "I wasn't around much." She looked like she regretted that. "And I'm sorry. Family should come first."

Pietro suddenly looked uncomfortable as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah." He said slowly. "They should."

"Don't worry." She cast him a sisterly glance as she passed him, headed for the bathroom. "I intend to make up for it."

She closed the door between them. "To you and to our father." She said from the other side.

Pietro's eyes were pained. _You bastards_. He thought. _She even thinks that SHE owes YOU_. He shook his head. _What the hell is wrong with us? With all of us?_

The truth is that Wanda's manipulation had preyed more heavily on Pietro's mind than he ever dared admit out loud. It demonstrated beyond question that he had backed the right horse – his father could not be stopped. But it also demonstrated something else too – it gave him a very clear insight in to just how expendable any one individual was in his fathers eyes. It demonstrated how expendable HE was in his father's eyes.

Pietro had always assumed that one day Wanda would grow out of her anger and willingly rejoin the family. Of course, this would never happen now. He was stuck staring at her like she was half a solution. Now, all Magneto's problems were solved. 

And Pietro was left with half a sister.

Wanda had lost her passion and her fire. They used to compete, to play together, but she had lost the spirit when her memories were twisted to suit his father's little finger.

Pietro dashed down the stairs and out to the back yard. He nervously chewed a fingernail.

__

When she called Todd an 'insect' tonight … He thought. _It was just like the old her was rising to the surface. Like she was coming back somehow._

He cast his eyes to the dull, bleak sky overhead. _And I was almost glad_ … 

He shivered in the cool air or, possibly, under the weight of the thought. _Almost_.

The door creaked open behind him and he knew it would be Mystique, keeping herself paranoid about her mysterious 'visitor'. He cast a glance over his shoulder and saw her cross her arms as she stared at him.

He made a half-hearted effort of racing back to her.

"I can't wait until my father shows up. You can bet we wont be hiding then." He snapped his fingers once, too quick for her to see.

"And thanks to me, you'll be alive to see it." She smirked knowingly. "And your father …" She stopped herself.

"My father what?" He asked. _Why does he keep you around?_ He thought, before wincing slightly because Magneto refused to let Pietro join his little group – He had sent him back to the Brotherhood, he didn't keep his own son 'around'.

"He knows that he should deal with this himself." She finished. "You'll see."

"Yeah." He shot back quickly. "_We_ will."

Mystique watched him shoot up the stairs.

__

You keep that misplaced faith. She told him silently. _You'll need it, right up until you die._

She shivered, although not from the cold, and the memory took her.

She had advanced on him menacingly. She had been totally confident in herself and her own superiority.

She thought she knew her enemy. But she was wrong.

He balled up his fist and it shot between her arms as she reached for him, her fingers clawed and sharp as knives. 

It wasn't even a hard blow. It left no bruise.

But it had landed just between the heartbeats – and it was just enough to interrupt the rhythmic beat.

And her heart actually stopped.

Her eyes went wild as she looked at him, and he was staring at her with his father's cold and calculating glare. It was then that she had realized – he had done it on purpose.

He must have been able to read it on her face as she staggered backwards and he caught her, stopping her from falling. His eyes had softened then, and he looked on her almost lovingly, as he once had.

She reached for him, to stroke his face, just to touch another soul – to be remembered as you were dying.

The second blow was sharp and direct. It made her take a deep breath in a rush and she spasmed against him as she felt her heart jump and then beat, painfully, under it's own power. That one left a bruise.

But in between reaching for him and spasming, all she accomplished was a horrible rake across the bottom of his jaw with her razor sharp claws.

She could see that he didn't understand, that he had saved her in a small moment of kindness and felt he had been rewarded with hatred and vengeance.

It was then that he let her fall and vanished in to the night as she lay there, weakly calling after him. " … derek …please …der … ic … deri …"

But he was gone for good. She never saw him again until he arrived in Bayville.

__

I'd have grown a beard too. She told herself, thinking back on the damage she had done.

She turned her eyes back to the quiet property. There wasn't much to do – when you're left waiting on the only man who ever killed you. And feeling totally – at his mercy.


	11. Of Hearth and Home CH11 Roadhouse Blue...

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Eleven: Roadhouse Blues

Rogue shook in anger as she stalked through the mansion. She had just come from a conspiracy web site that actually seemed to know what it was talking about. 

Kurt had surprised them all by discovering a small treasure trove of facts about Calvin Carlyle.

Calvin was a drummer, but he possessed a metronomic sense of timing. He had played ALL the instruments on the album Rhythm's Slave – and then overlaid the separate 'tracks' to make the album. When it became a hit, he hired a band to play with him and went on tour. Then at the height of fame, at a concert in Belgium, during the encore – something happened.

Some said it was a fire. Others said it was lightning. But the one thing everyone agreed on was that when the smoke cleared, Calvin Carlyle was no where to be found.

And Rogue wished he had never resurfaced. She searched in anger, room by room and floor by floor as she went, until she found finally him.

Derek was eyeing the pool table, stick in hand, when she saw him through the partially open door.

"_You_!" She called, getting his attention as she pushed through the door. "What the _hell_ are you _doing here_?" She asked, launching herself at him and pushing him with both hands.

He was surprised and the stick fell to the floor as he stumbled back a few steps.

"Rogue!" Beast roared from the opposite side of the table. "_Enough_!"

"Don't touch him!" Kurt called, reaching out a cautioning hand from Hank's side of the table. "Remember, da Professor …"

"You don't know what I do!" She told Hank, ignoring Kurt's warning, she pushed him again, this time, up against the wall.

And then Hank had her – one arm wrapped around her waist and the other holding one of her gloved hands away from the other – to prevent the gloves from coming off.

"Actually," Hank admitted as he wrestled himself between them. "I may." He sighed. "Kurt. Give us a few minutes, alone please?"

"Ja." Kurt agreed slowly, turning his eyes on Derek.

Derek smiled weakly and motioned that he should go.

Kurt looked back to Hank, still restraining Rogue while she squirmed with hate burning behind her eyes.

"Go." Hank told him. "This is just … _a very personal_ … **_misunderstanding_**."

Kurt swallowed once and closed the door behind him as he left the room.

Hank slowly released Rogue. "What do you know?" He asked her quietly.

"He did it on purpose – _what he did to the Professor_." Her eyes were wild and angry.

Derek caught Hanks eye and shook his head in a confused denial.

"He did!" Rogue squirmed and tried to push towards him but Hank reinforced his grip.

"Why do you think that?" Hank pressed her.

"SHE sent him here. Do you know who he is? Who he really is?" She had turned her eyes on Hank now and glowered as she spit the words. "His name isn't Calvin. It's _Derek_."

Derek stood up strait at hearing his real name.

Rogue swung her head around to see the expression on his face when she announced "_Derek Darkholme_."

Hank sighed softly. The cat was out of the bag. 

"Rogue." Hank caught her attention. "I know."

Her eyes were wide as saucers when she turned to look Hank in the face.

"He told me the first day he was here. In a manner of speaking – his blood is very similar to Kurt's – it's got a very high copper and low iron content – I take it they get that from Mystique. And what happened with the Professor was an accident. I'm sure of it. It was the Professor's idea. I know because I was there."

Rogue was still shaking and angry but now she was torn between Derek and Hank as targets.

"I think he's here … because of Kurt." Hank told her. "He was just curious about … _his brother_."

Rogue turned her eyes back to Derek who was standing cautiously, and keeping one of the room's small armchairs between them. 

"Does Xavier know?" She asked. "Does Kurt?" She whipped back to face Hank.

"No." he told her. "On both counts."

"Why not?" She glared. "What's he got to hide?"

Derek sighed. "Son of a son of a sailor." (1) And he shrugged.

"What?" Rogue demanded.

"He's talking about this Rogue – right now. About people holding her actions against him. Or expecting the same from him" Hank felt her relax, just a bit.

Derek could see it too, as he slipped out from behind the chair and slumped down in to it before laughing once, sadly. He could see that Hank was looking for him to explain it.

"Man in the mirror." (2) He said, idly pointing at Rogue. 

"Something in common?" Beast asked. "The anger?"

Derek nodded, looking deflated in the chair. 

Rogue had stopped squirming and was staring hard at Derek. Hank, in turn, had lessened his grip but still stood between them.

"Tell the Professor." Rogue said, turning her eyes on Beast. "If you don't, I will, you hear me? He should know."

Hank looked at Derek then back to Rogue. "And if he agrees to tell the Professor, will you respect his privacy where everyone else is concerned?"

"You mean Kurt?" She asked.

"I mean everyone." Hank told her. "He's here on personal, family business. It's a private matter, do you understand?"

"No, actually, Ah don't." She said. "Why not just tell Kurt the truth?"

Derek looked at them and sighed a frustrated sigh.

"I think his exact reasons are beyond his ability to explain." Hank guessed and Derek nodded. "But I do know that Kurt would have accepted and embraced him right away if he knew they were related." Hank was leveling a glance in to Rogue's eyes. "And instead of taking that route, he's been putting in the time and effort to really get to know Kurt. And I can't fault him for that."

Rogue hesitated. She knew that Hank was right. "Okay." She said at last. "If you tell the Professor, I can keep mah mouth shut."

Derek met her eyes with a hopeful look. 

"_For now_." She told him. "But so help me, if you make me regret this – Ah WILL return the favor!"

"Is that all right with you?" Hank asked over his shoulder. "I'll tell the Professor and you behave yourself?"

"Shoop Shoop." (3) Derek smiled wide and nodded enthusiastically before turning seriously on Rogue. "I wanna be everything, except for your mistake." (4) He said as sincerely as he could mange.

Rogue softened. She could understand someone who wanted to ditch a past with Mystique, and Derek did seem sincere. But with the recent episode with the Professor she wasn't sure.

"Ah'm gonna be keeping mah eye on you." She told him before pulling completely free of Hank and stalking out of the room.

Derek sighed loudly. 

"I can't tell if I'm a doctor or a referee lately." Beast joked, trying to break the ice.

"I don't have very long … " (5) Derek grumbled to himself.

"Everyone's gone feral where you're concerned." Beast shook his head. "It's crazy."

"Welcome to the jungle." (6) Derek agreed. Before adding "Are we having fun yet?" (7)

"You know …" Hank tried not to smile. 

Derek watched him expectantly.

"It's the same kind of reaction Kurt must get at first glance … most anywhere else." Hank smiled softly. It really wasn't funny. Not at all.

Derek snorted a laugh and then forced himself to stop.

They both laughed when their eyes finally met again.

"So, it is Derek then?" Hank asked. 

Derek nodded. 

"Were you also Calvin Carlyle?" He pressed.

And again Derek nodded. This time more vigorously and with a smile while simulating a quick drum roll.

"You liked it then, the music?"

Derek smiled a leisurely and dreamy grin as he nodded slightly and sighed.

Beast seemed struck by an idea. "Is that how … Where your powers manifested?"

Derek smiled at him noncommittally as though waiting for him to finish the question.

"Is it?" He pressed on. "Because I could see where … where even the chaos of a crowd like that … being determined by … a pattern …"

Beast's eyes opened wide and he turned in his seat to face Derek directly.

"Is that it?" Beast asked. "Patterns and chaos, the stage and the crowd?"

Derek extended a flat hand and shook it idly from side to side as though saying "Kind of".

"Am I close?" Beast queried.

"Racing and pacing and plotting the course …" (8) He smiled back.

"Getting there." Beast said almost to himself. "Hunh."

1) Jimmy Buffet – Son of a Son of a Sailor

2) Michael Jackson – Man in the Mirror

3) Vonda Shepard – It's in His Kiss (The shoop-shoop song)

4) Sister Hazel – Your Mistake

5) Styx - Renegade

6) Guns 'n Roses – Welcome to the Jungle

7) Nickelback – This is How You Remind Me

8) Cake – Distance


	12. Of Hearth and Home CH12 Danger Zone

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Twelve: Danger Zone

"I don't think you know vhat you're getting in to here." Kurt grinned.

"Yeah." Bobby supplied from just beyond Derek's left elbow. "The danger room can be tough."

Derek smiled. The concern was a welcome change from the silence he most often lived in. And with Rogue's recriminations only an hour old, he was actually thrilled to still be at the mansion.

Beast raised his head and caught Derek's attention. "We are only doing one session tonight." Hank informed him. But before we begin, I want to ask – How many sessions do you think we'll need to get an accurate range for your powers?"

Derek raised two fingers, spread slightly apart, with the back of his hand facing Beast.

"Two?" Hank asked puzzled. "Normally, we need at least three to gauge the average control and strength levels."

Derek curled and then straitened his fingers again. 

"Two it is." Hank agreed, turning back to recalibrate the machine. 

Derek tapped him on the shoulder. Hank stopped what he was doing and turned to face him.

Derek held up his index finger alone.

"Yes, just one today." Hank told him.

He shook his head slowly and displayed the single finger again. Then he made fists as though he were boxing.

He held up two fingers again and tapped the side of his head.

"One physical and one mental?" Hank guessed.

Derek smiled and so did Kurt.

Bobby rubbed his hands together greedily. There was an air of excitement in the room and he was thrilled to be included.

"Okay." Hank said at last. "We're ready when you are."

"Let him have it Beast." The gruff voice made all their heads turn. "I don't need to be the only guy he's sore at."

Logan curled one side of his mouth in to a half smile.

Derek leaned his head back and cocked it questioningly.

"Sorry about the misunderstanding Kid. Let's see what you can do." Logan eyed Derek to gauge his reaction.

Derek nodded slowly as though he was still thinking something through. "Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends." (1) He said at last as his normal smile now returned.

He slipped out the door, down the stairs, around the corner and down the hall to the massive metal doors of The Danger Room.

They slid open with a massive click and a mechanical hiss.

The room was huge and empty, but he knew – that was to change. Scott had shown him the simulator this morning and explained it rather well, despite his total inability to follow Derek's conversation or comments.

"Whenever you're ready." Xavier told him over the loudspeaker. 

And when Derek nodded, then flashed a double 'thumbs-up' sign, Xavier keyed the control to begin the simulation.

"I programmed this matrix to overlay itself on a delay that shifts it's pattern every four seconds, with a random one second pattern shift every third cycle. It'll be the hardest pattern he's ever tried to keep up with." Hank smiled. He was particularly proud of his programming. It had come as an inspired rush first thing this morning.

"Isn't that like cheating?" Bobby asked.

"It does seem a little unfair." Kurt agreed.

The door hissed open behind them.

"Did he do it yet?" Multiple stuck his head in to the room.

"Yeah, did he?" He asked again coming this time from the opposite side of the door.

"We're dying to know out here!" He exclaimed again as a third version poked it's head up at chest level between the first two.

"All right." Logan got his attention. "Just pull yourself together first. We've already got a crowd in here. We don't need another one."

All three Multiples broke in to the same wild smile and shifted together as they pushed through the doorway. The one who entered the room swatted the door pad with a wide grin and the door hissed shut.

"This is gonna be so cool." He looked at Bobby who was suddenly feeling less special about having been included. "You can't even see his fingers when he gets moving on the piano_. He's fast_." Multiple volunteered.

He is? Kurt wondered. _How fast is he?_

But the action had begun and they all fell silent as their eyes turned to the floor below.

Derek stood in the middle of the room. The ceiling was rimmed in bright white lights, and despite being a considerable distance away, he could feel their heat from where he stood.

The room hummed with an inner power as the systems came to life. Panels slid open along the walls while trap doors sprung open in the floor.

Mechanical arms grasping dangerous beam weapons slipped in to view out of the walls and drew their focus on to Derek.

Large spinning columns had emerged out of the floor. They appeared to be covered with spikes and studs. These too were on metal arms that hefted themselves towards Derek.

"He's not doing anything." Kurt noticed. 

"Uh-ho." Logan saw the circular section in the center of the room begin to move clockwise. The very same section that Derek was standing on.

The weapons went to fire and the spinning shredders moved in a geometric unison towards him but Derek held his ground as the floor began to spin beneath him.

"I'm aborting the exercise." Xavier announced reaching for the control. "He must not under …"

And just then, when it already appeared to be too late, as the beam weapons were readjusting to his position and ready to fire …

Derek whinnied loudly like a horse and stamped his foot once in front of him, as though counting to one.

A faint 'pop' sounded beneath the floor and Derek smiled. The shredders began slowing on their own and beginning to droop lifelessly at the end of their mechanical arms.

The beam weapons still held a charge, but the targeting sensors refused to provide any acquisition data as the power slipped from the room and they too fell lifeless on their mounts.

A high pitched whine was the only sound to be heard, and as it slowed – growing ever fainter – the danger room lights winked out one by one; each accompanied by the cooling hiss of the bulbs.

"What just happened?" Multiple asked. "What did he do?"

"I have no idea." Hank was shocked. "None."

"He tripped the breakers. Manually." Xavier shook his head as he spoke. "Shut down the whole room."

And as if to illustrate his point - the lights in the observation room went out completely, bathing them all in shadows. A second later, the control panel lit itself with a faint blue glow.

"Back-up's still on?" Logan snorted.

"Emergency power. In here only." Xavier said as he checked the softly lit meter on the control board. "He tripped the whole room."

"He was only over the breakers for … a _fraction_ of a _second_!" Beast was dumbstruck. "They're under the floor and mounted to a plate that's spinning _the other way_ …"

Xavier couldn't help but smile as he turned to Hank. "Makes you wonder what he can do with is mind, doesn't it?" He quipped.

They turned their eyes back down to the danger room floor to find that Derek had crossed back the way he had come and was forcing the big metal doors open by hand.

With one great shove he made a crack large enough for his abnormally thin frame to slip through.

"Ahh, Professor?" Kurt ventured. "This door isn't working either."

Xavier keyed a switch on the soft blue control panel and the door made a loud 'clink' but didn't move.

"Logan? Hank? If you would be so kind?" He prompted.

And Logan pulled while Beast pushed, and the door slid all the way open.

"That was cool!" Jamie resisted the urge to split himself in to pieces and run around the mansion telling people what had just happened. "He stopped the room!"

Logan stopped in mid motion towards the door and cast a glance at Xavier. "He did, didn't he?"

Xavier nodded. "He's the only person who has had _less_ difficulty than Kitty on their first session." He looked chagrined. Almost everyone knew that Kitty walked right through her first session without a single difficulty or concern. It had forced Xavier to invent new tactics just for her.

"Wait till I tell her." Bobby smirked.

Kurt stood back as they left. He turned back to the now empty danger room. It was lit only by the thin strip of the barely open door.

Something about the whole scene seemed very bloodthirsty to him. The precision of the attack was a part of it. But there was more. 

__

It's dead. He realized, looking out at the twisted shadows of the defunct attack mechanisms. _He went for the kill – first thing._

Kurt steadied himself. _A tripped breaker is a far cry from being a murder_. He reminded himself. _But … still…Like Mr. Logan says …_ Kurt swallowed nervously. 

…_ 'instinct **is** instinct'._

1) ELP – Karn Evil #9 (2nd impression)


	13. Of Hearth and Home CH13 Still Crazy Af...

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Thirteen: Still Crazy After All These Years

Xavier picked up the phone. The dial tone beeped several times before it sounded its normal tone. _What_? He thought _Messages_?

He dialed his own number and entered his four-digit code.

"You have three messages." The voice told him. "Message one: " There was a brief moment of background noise before the caller hung up the phone. "End of first message." The voice told him again.

"Message Two: " The voice said in it's cold and uninterested tone. And again, almost immediately, the caller hung up.

__

Blast it! Xavier thought. _Who has time for this?_

"Message three: " The voice announced.

"Charles." The new voice announced. "It's Eric."

Xavier's eyebrows raised as he pressed his ear to the receiver.

"I do not know why I have not been able to reach you …"

__

This call must have come in while I was recovering from my session with Derek. Xavier realized.

"But, I have been informed that an old … _acquaintance_ … of mine is currently enjoying your hospitality. I do not know what name he is currently using, but his somewhat lyrical speech patterns should be enough to verify his identity to us both. While I have no desire to reopen our endless debate about people's worth and motivations … I feel _I must warn you about this man_."

Xavier's mind reeled slightly. Despite the fact that they had spoken recently, Eric had not initiated a simple phone call in many years. And he sounded worried.

"He is not one of your students or instructors Charles. And he is not to be trusted. You should consider him a threat to every life you hold near or dear. He bears the taint of a life of excess and indulgence. Please, _if we were ever friends_, heed my words."

Xavier froze in place. _If we were ever friends …_

"_Charles_ …" Eric said quietly. "_He's the kind of man who would kill his own parents_."

Xavier's blood went cold.

"_Without hesitation_." Magneto's recorded voice finished. "_I speak of **an actual event** in this case Charles."_

"I can only pray that this warning has reached you in time. May luck and fate be with you all."

Click.

"End of new messages." The familiar voice intoned. "If you would like to make a call …"

Xavier hung up the phone and sighed loudly. He desperately wanted to lay his head down on his desk and bury his face in his arms, ignoring the world and it's lyrical yet personable madmen. But of course, he could not.

Xavier reached out with is mind and felt the mind of Hank McCoy. Hank was rereading Macbeth and enjoying it immensely. Xavier hated to interrupt.

A moment later Hank had joined Xavier in his office and been briefed as to the content of the phone call.

"I really don't know what to say." Hank repeated himself – again.

"Nor I." Xavier replied. "And despite my belief that this was a warning in good faith – I do not see myself turning Derek out in to the street without something a little more concrete."

Beast shook his head. "I've reviewed all the data Kurt collected on him under the name Calvin Carlyle and what Rogue found indicating his real name. And no where in there was there a single mention of violence or indication that he was anything more than a happy-go-lucky rock-n-roller."

"I must confess." Xavier leaned across his desk as he spoke. "My inability to read his thoughts or intentions … disturbs me under these conditions."

"That's totally understandable." Hank replied. "And I'll be the first to admit that behind closed doors, I find it very easy to question his intentions."

"Behind closed doors." Xavier commented.

"Well, yes." Hank thought for a moment. "But all these … facts I suppose you would call them – How he manipulated his way in to the mansion, pressed me for silence, and even if he did kill his parents …" Hank shivered. "So far, all these things have been very … understandable."

Beast pursed his lips. "I know we don't discuss it very often, but our very own Wolverine is a classic example of how easy it might be to condemn a man on the strength of 'facts' alone."

The Professor nodded. "A past he is unable to reveal or even properly recall."

"Sworn enemies like Sabertooth with whom he was once friends and now conducts blood feuds to the death." Hank supplied.

"And … " Xavier winced. "Even he admits to having killed."

"It all sounds pretty incriminating." Beast remarked. "Unless you know him."

Xavier nodded. "Behind closed doors you mean."

Hank agreed with a solemn nod. "Because we both know from our own firsthand understanding of Logan that no matter how true any of that is – He would lay down his life for you, the institute, the students, or the world."

"Of course." Xavier waved dismissively. "But can we say anything similar for Derek?"

"I can." Hank told him. "When you collapsed after trying to probe his mind – all I needed to say was 'Help me get him to the infirmary' and he scooped you up under your arms. The next thing I knew, I had you by the feet and had to let go of you so that I could prepare the room. He was covered in your blood Professor. It was all over his arms and in the hair of his beard."

"Oh, God." Xavier despised the picture that Hank was painting. 

"And when I turned back, opening the door that had closed between us, Logan was attacking him."

Xavier winced.

"And, knowing that he was the target, he moved to draw Logan - away from you." Beast's eyes were large and soulful. "I've thought about it a lot since we've learned more about him, and I'm all but convinced that he was baiting Logan. That's how he stayed one step ahead almost the whole time. He was purposefully leaving himself open for certain attacks. And when Logan went for those 'weaknesses' …" Beast shook his head. "My point is this – he was willing to leave himself open – to attacks by Logan no less – because he felt that it was the best option available."  
  
Xavier took a deep breath in through his nose.

"Have we even considered that maybe he's not the same person that Mystique and Magneto remember form their past? That maybe he's grown as a person since then?" Beast asked, his soulful eyes now brimming with empathy.

"You trust him, don't you?" Xavier asked.

"It may be easier for me. He trusted me first – with the blood sample – and his true identity."

Xavier nodded and steepled his fingers before him. "And you've spent time with him, gotten to know him?" Xavier cast a deep stare in to Beast eyes. "And what have you learned?"

Hank smiled slightly. "He expressed an interest in our classes, particularly Kurt's schedule. He finds Storm very attractive. I've yet to see him do anything more violent than stomping the floor in the danger room. Even when Logan or Rogue attacked him directly."  
  
Xavier nodded as he absorbed this information.

"And despite the fact that Kitty was terrified of him after hearing from the Brotherhood – she spent more than an hour listening to him play my old guitar down in the front room. He made her laugh several times and when she left, she stopped to hug him and thank him for some kind of 'advice'." Beast shrugged. "If I didn't know better I would say he's just some normal guy on vacation. He's soaking up the local color and pretty well relaxed for someone who is forever being blindsided by angry mutants."  
  
Xavier smiled. He no longer felt as though he were behind a closed door.

"At the moment, I am inclined to agree with you. But I do feel that we must be cautious. I want to meet with the students. Individually. All of them except Kurt. I want to know if they've noticed anything we've missed." He gave a small smile. "After all, we do know that when he does attack, he does so with some degree of finality."

Beast smirked slightly and considered this. "He does indeed. It's a wise precaution." He said at last. 

"Please, if you would be so kind, send Scott in when you leave. I'll start with him and then have him fetch the next student." Xavier smiled slightly. "Hopefully, there will be nothing to report."

"Whatever they've noticed," Beast suggested "Lets look for explanations before we confront him. I'm tired of playing catch-up where he's concerned."

"On that, we are agreed." Xavier told him. "One hundred percent."

While across town, a dark and foreboding form sank slowly to the earth below. Swathed in armor and arrogance, with a sneer upon his lips as he stared down at his Acolytes in training, Magneto – The Master of Magnetism – Had arrived in Bayville.


	14. Of Hearth and Home CH14 Time Is On My ...

OF Hearth and Home

Chapter Fourteen: Time Is On My Side

Storm sat quietly in her attic grow room. Row after row of seedlings stared back at her from the many tables. "I know young ones." She cooed lovingly to the plants. "I have not been myself." She smiled sweetly and slyly.

Three soft raps came at the heavy wooden door.

"Yes?" She asked hesitantly – as most people respected her boundaries and let her tend to her gardening in peace.

The doorknob turned and the door opened to reveal Xavier.

"Charles, come in. How did you …?" She cast her eyes to the narrow wooden stairway behind him.

Xavier, chair and all, glided in to the room. The wheels on his chair never moved. Behind him, Storm could make out the deep red of Jean's hair at the bottom of the stairs.

"Thank you Jean." The Professor thought – loudly enough to include both Storm and Jean in the conversation. "I won't be long." He assured her. "I will call for you shortly."

"Yes Professor." Storm could hear her reply softly – as though from a great distance.

Xavier smiled and pushed the door closed behind him.

"Forgive the intrusion." He smiled warmly as he cast his eyes around the room before returning his focus to her. "But I wanted to ask a very delicate question."

Storm eased down on to a small wooden stool. "What is it?" She asked, giving him her undivided attention.

"It's about Calvin." He said plainly; still using the more familiar name rather than the more controversial one Beast had provided him with. "I've heard you've … met?"

Xavier smiled knowingly and sympathetically as Storm sighed and cast her eyes to the floor.

"I'm not trying to pry Ororo. I want that understood. But, I have decided to take a slightly more personal interest in Calvin, and I am currently 'investigating' his actions rather thoroughly." He explained. "My question is this: Has he overstepped himself?"

Storm smiled slightly. "No." She decided at last. "He has … not." She looked deep in thought.

"Then, if I may ask, what exactly happened this afternoon?" (Authors Note: These actions occurred between Rogue's attack and Derek's danger Room exercise.)

Storm pursed her lips. "I overstepped myself." She admitted at last. 

"You?" Xavier looked curiously shocked.

Storm only nodded, keeping her eyes on the floor, but slowly a smile came to her lips and she brightened considerably.

"He's a terrible flirt." She explained. "It started the first day we met. I almost ran him over in the upstairs hall."

"And?" Xavier prompted.

"And he purred at me." She admitted, slightly embarrassed.

Xavier raised his eyebrows slightly.

"It was quite good natured. And not entirely … discouraged." She seemed to have chosen her words very carefully. "In fact, we've …"

"Flirted?" Xavier supplied.

"Yes." She agreed. "On several occasions since. Three, I think." She seemed to be counting them again in her mind to be sure.

"And yesterday?" Xavier prompted her again.

Storm smiled. "And yesterday, " She sighed. "We ... exchanged compliments. And he said something … Suggestive." _And I found myself considering it seriously …_ "And, partially because it was such a blunt proposition, and _maybe_, partially because of my interest … I …I slapped him."

Xavier nodded, digesting this information.

"If you don't mind my asking, how did this come to your attention?" Storm queried.

"I'm afraid that the young Mr. Drake was passing by, in the hall, and saw the whole incident."

Storm recoiled slightly. The last thing she wanted was to be the source of mansion gossip.

"I wouldn't worry." Xavier told her. "Bobby mentioned it to me because I asked the students to report anything that might be out of the ordinary when it came to Calvin. He told me the story, rather abashedly, as Derek had 'requested' that he keep it to himself."

"Derek?" Storm asked. "Who is …?"

Xavier shook his head. "Calvin, sorry. I was reviewing possible new recruits – the name just stuck with me." He lied. "Why do you think that Calvin might request that Bobby remain quiet?"

Storm looked undecided and shrugged slightly. "He doesn't strike me as the shy type." She announced.

"No." Xavier agreed. "He isn't. My thoughts, at the moment, are that he 'silenced' Bobby out of a sense of decorum."

"Respect." Storm agreed. "It's obvious, even when he's being … suggestive." She cast a glance away and then back to Xavier. "I should say that, I do believe – That if I had discouraged him – he would have respected that and acted accordingly."

Xavier's expression suddenly appeared more calm and peaceful than it had been during his entire visit. Storm could see by the sheer amount of his obvious relief that he had been quite concerned.

"May I ask, how did you leave things?" Xavier felt as though he was prying but it also felt necessary; he was walking a fine line.

Storm dropped her head. "I was shocked." She admitted. "Shocked that I had hit him for something so …" _Enticing? Alluring? Agreeable?_ " … trivial." She finished. "I made some apologetic remark and slipped away." 

"What did he do?" Xavier asked.

"He just smiled. Smiled the whole time." She shrugged at the memory. 

Derek's smile had been suggestive and intimate, right up until her hand crossed his face. Then he did look shocked, but shocked in the sense of someone who had just walked in to a surprise party or won the lottery but couldn't believe his luck. He was amused. And when she back-pedaled and retreated, he had reached out towards her – smiling and shaking his head as though he understood – but he had let her go. She had glanced back, to see him standing with is eyes on the floor, a small smile – both amused and rueful – framed by his soft square beard.

"I think he regretted the … boldness of the statement." She decided out loud before quickly adding "Not that he has a lot of choices when it comes to dialog. I understand that."

Xavier smiled. "I don't see any conflict or distress in this situation. If that's all there was to it than I am sure it's something you can work out for yourselves – if you haven't already, on your own."

"Please," Storm stopped him from turning towards the door. "You said you've been investigating him. Have you found anything … detrimental?"

Xavier seemed to consider this. "No, not really." He admitted. "As Hank observed – He's given up on explaining things until it's absolutely necessary. So while he seems to have a lot of explaining to do in some cases … " He shrugged. "No. I still have a mystery or two, but nothing that would indicate that he is anything more than he lets on."

Storm nodded. Xavier noticed that she seemed relieved by his assessment.

"What kind of mysteries?" She asked. "If I'm not intruding by asking."  
  
Xavier sighed. "No. But I have found that the 'mystery' is often more suggestive than the situation warrants." He cautioned. "It has come to my attention through more than one source that Calvin doesn't spend all night at the mansion."

Storm looked confused. "He doesn't?" She asked, shaking her head.

"No. Apparently, he slips out after most everyone is in bed and then back in again before anyone gets up."

"But, how?" Storm asked. "Mansion security …"

Xavier grimaced beneath his grin. "Is based on a search pattern controlled by a computer." He explained. "And his ability is pattern recognition. I feel it's pretty obvious that he evades our security on purpose, but that may be for no other reason than he's avoiding the explanation of where he goes and what he does. Or, it could be more."

"Are you going to ask him about it?" Storm wondered.

Xavier looked chagrined. "I was going to. I favor the direct approach."

"But?"

"Logan was present when I got one of the reports of Der … Calvin's unusual absences. Later, I informed him that this is an ongoing condition and he has volunteered to follow him on his next excursion."

"What aren't you saying Charles?" Storm had known Xavier long enough to see when he was holding his tongue.

"We realized this yesterday. And it was confirmed today. Logan was going to follow him last night … but it didn't work." He shrugged slightly. "He slipped away before we had a chance to notice."

"So, tonight then?" Storm asked knowingly.

"I don't think I could stop Logan if I wanted to." He chuckled. "He takes these things very personally."

Storm smirked and then fought the expression from her face. "I know he does." She said, her voice betraying her humor. 

"But, before you leave," Storm stood up, in good humor now, and spread her arms to indicate the room. "What do you think of my nursery?" 

Just down the road at Agatha's house, Wanda sat on her back porch staring in to the tree line. Agatha startled her as she came outside.

"I've just received word from a friend my dear. Your father has arrived, no less that an hour ago. He was met by almost all the Brotherhood although he has sent them back towards their own home. He is currently headed for the Xavier Estate in the company of Mystique."

Wanda's eyes smoldered like a chemical fire.

"Now, do you wish to attack and remove the Brotherhood first so that your father has no back-up, or are you going for the quick kill?" Agatha smiled and handed her a mug from a small round tray.

"I'll start with the Brotherhood." She smiled, thinking of her brother. "I need to warm up."

Wanda rose to her feet and Agatha turned on her, her eyes angry and menacing. "Please." Agatha began. "Finish your hot chocolate first. You have plenty of time."

Wanda eyed her and then the mug. She wasn't sure why, but she lowered herself back in to the chair. "I'm sorry. I was just excited." Wanda explained.

Agatha's sweet smile had returned. "Think nothing of it. But, really, we must mind our manners." She smiled. "It's just polite. Now finish your chocolate and then you can have all the fun you want while killing your father"

Agatha and Wanda shared a smile as they sat in the crisp air, sipping their hot-chocolate in peace.


	15. Of Hearth and Home CH15 Can't Stop

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Fifteen: Can't Stop

Wanda swooned slightly.

"What is it?" Pietro asked, coming to support her from one side.

"I just … Don't feel right … again." Wanda replied weakly. "My head. It's starting to ring."

Pietro cast a glance back the way they had come and then forward towards the Brotherhood Boarding House although it was still out of sight.

"We're close to home." He decided. "All aboard." He said playfully, scooping her legs out from under her. "Hold on."

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hurry, please, it's getting worse."

Toad jumped with an inner laugh before sighing out of concern. "Yeah Pietro, hurry it up."

Pietro shot Toad a sarcastic look and vanished in a blur.

"I hope she's okay." Blob rubbed the back of his head.

"She's tough!" Lance informed them with a scowl, pushing past them toward the boardinghouse. "She'll be fine."

Toad swallowed once and cast Fred a worried look before pushing on, step by step towards home.

Meanwhile, The other Wanda was gritting her teeth as she approached. Her mind was a torrent of fire and pain. Whatever her father's 'secret weapon' was – it was doing a job on her.

And then, just as she began to doubt her ability to press on … it began to abate.

__

I'm through the worst of it! She realized with a grin. _Now, for the Brotherhood …_

Wanda stepped out to find Lance strutting down the snow-lined streets of Bayville.

"Hey," Lance was saying "At least we're out of the house."

"Yeah." Toad agreed. "I just hope it's safe."

Blob nodded his agreement. "Mystique seemed awfully worried about us."

"Only 'cuz Magneto would kick her blue butt if anything happened to us. And she knows it!" Lance was puffing himself up.

"In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised …" He was smiling and talking, and when she stepped out from the alley, Lance only stared at her, blankly. "Wanda?" He said . "Where is …"

But it was too late. She had blasted him 'with both barrels' – as the expression goes.

Her Hex Field engulfed him and swept him along with a violent slam, right in to the side of a one-hour dry-cleaners.

"Ahhh, Toad?" Blob ventured in his confusion.

"Run" Todd whispered. "Run fast." And Todd leapt away.

Fred turned to run but was distracted by Todd's screaming, falling form as he flew by, wrapped in one of Wanda's Hex Fields. He slammed down on to the hood of a blue station wagon with multiple parking tickets on the windshield. Then he and it, exploded just a bit.

Blob didn't feel a thing, save the tingling in the back of his neck and a tiny trace of fear before he hit the snow-bank face first and buried his head like an ostrich. 

Wanda surveyed the scene. _Damn_. She thought. _Where is he?_

And as if in answer to her question, she heard him coming. The telltale 'zip' that she had so long ago come to hate was making its way down the road.

It was on her before she could turn, but her power was ready and able.

With a thought and a minimal strain she caught him in mid run and lifted him slightly to keep his feet off the ground. The she began to squeeze the breath out of him.

"How nice to see you Pietro." She began as he choked and strained for breath. "You're looking well. Taller too. The last year has been kind to you." She smirked. "But now I've got you …"

Pietro was struggling for breath. _She won't kill me … Will she? She won't kill me, will she?_ The thought ran through his head about eighty times per second until he passed out completely, listening to her say …

"And when you wake up? You'll be just as fatherless _as I always was_." She smiled demurely as his eyes rolled back in to his head and he went limp.

She hurled his unconscious form in to the same wall that had served to flatten Lance and then she turned her eyes down the road, knowing full well that she would have to hurry if she meant to intercept her father before he reached the Xavier estate. Because she knew that – while Xavier and Magneto were bitter enemies, they were also occasional allies; a remnant of their once heartfelt friendship.

"And today, you belong just to me … _Daddy_!" She hissed.

Then Wanda doubled her pace and headed off down the road.

Back at the Brotherhood house, Wanda sat quietly. She had been feeling ill again, but it had been subsiding ever since Pietro got her home. She had decided to lay down and rest, but when she did, she was horrified to discover that when she closed her eyes, she began immediately to dream.

In the dream she saw herself stepping out from an alley and attacking the Brotherhood. First Lance, then Todd and finally Fred. After a moment of shock, Pietro had appeared in the dream and she attacked him too, by choking the life out of him and casting him aside.

She was even more shocked as she lay there with her eyes closed to hear her own voice, speaking out loud to the empty room. "And when you wake up, _you'll be as fatherless as I always was_."

She recoiled at the bloodthirsty indulgence she heard in her voice.

And it was then that she knew – it wasn't a dream.

No one had told here where Magneto and Mystique were going. But she knew now anyway – it was the Xavier Estate. And she knew that something bad was about to happen – unless she made sure, herself, that it was averted.

She ran through the house and down the stairs, grabbing her coat as she dashed out the door. Briefly she cast her eyes around for Pietro, but then shook off the thought and began to run for Graymalkin Lane. If she could get there first, she could catch them as the approached the mansion, and hopefully discover that she was delusional and imagining the whole thing.

She made great time on her wild hunt through the streets and back alleys of Bayville. Soon she was making her way, on an intercept course, down Graymalkin, when she felt the headache begin to return. 

__

Not now! She shuddered to herself_. I need to save my father_! She wailed mentally, tears streaming down her face and the pain obviously crippling her as she tried to focus on the road.

She gritted her teeth and bit down. Soon, every second became a lesson in agony. It was as though she was pushing herself further and further on to a sword blade with every step. Her eyes burned and watered and threatened to close against the light of day around her. But still she persisted, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand.

At the mansion, Derek stood with his hands clasped behind his back and stared blankly out the windows as he rocked back and forth from his heels to his toes.

To Storm, he looked like an expectant father or a man ready to 'tag in' on those ridiculous wrestling shows that Ray and Jamie love so much. She knew that neither of those things was exactly right, but she knew as well that an answer probably wasn't forthcoming.

Most all of the students were excited and chattering about the upcoming holiday break. Some were wrapping presents and some were trying to 'sneak a peak'.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Storm offered quietly from behind him.

Derek smiled and turned to face her. "The new mother nature." (1) He smiled and she blushed ever so slightly.

"What were you looking at with such a far away gaze?" She asked, peering out the window.

"The circle, the circle of life."(2) He nodded towards the windows.

Storm smiled softly. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" She asked.

Derek nodded his agreement, never taking his eyes off her.

Storm felt herself flush, warmly, under his attention.

"You know …" She smiled. "About yesterday …" She cast a glance at him and he smiled, favoring the side of his face where she had struck him.

"Shhh…" He told her, placing a finger to his lips. "Forgiveness." (3) He cooed at her.

She smiled at him again, warmly, and without reservation as he had seen her do in private.

Derek's eyes shone with a contentment and light that Storm had not seen there before. It took her a moment to realize that he was mirroring her – showing her the emotions she was now ready to accept.

"You're …" She swallowed once. "You're due in the danger room again. Are .. Are you ready?"

"Come and see the show." (4) He said, smiling. "Guaranteed to blow your mind." (5)

Storm smiled. "Do all the things you do qualify as mind-blowing?" She asked coyly.

Playfully, he reached out and caressed her face with a gentle, teasing (mock) 'slap'.

Storm dropped her eyes. And then looked back up at him. "I'll come." She said at last. "I'd like to … I'd just like to." She decided, and he offered her his arm, before escorting her from the room.

He did cast one last glance back out the windows and sighed, silently, to himself. 

Storm didn't notice.

1)The Guess Who – No Sugar Tonight

2)Elton John – The Circle of Life

3)Don Henley – Heart of the Matter

4)Emerson, Lake and palmer – Karn Evil #9, second impression

5)Queen – Killer Queen


	16. Of Hearth and Home CH16 Pressure

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Sixteen: Pressure

Kurt sat nervous and uncomfortable in his room at his desk. The clock on the computer let him know that Derek's second Danger Room session was about to begin. And he desperately wanted to be there because he understood what it meant to stare down Xavier and the rest of the faculty in defiance from the floor of that room. He understood what to have a friendly face looking back

Unfortunately, the last session left a very bad taste in his mouth. He was so uncomfortable that, the next day – after Derek had finished a weight lifting routine and had a soak in the hot tub, Kurt met him in the locker room.

The memories swam back to Kurt and he crept over the incident in his mind once more.

He had slipped in to the room while his friend was focused on cleaning up his sweaty clothes and wet towel after his work out. When Derek looked up, Kurt was standing there, absolutely motionless save for the idle tossing of his tail, low to the floor and behind him.

"Who taught you to fight?" Kurt asked him softly.

The smile fell from Derek's face and he dropped his head. It seemed that he was looking for a way to answer. But he seemed deeply effected by the question as well.

"They veren't good people, vere they?" The Elf's voice was smooth and low.

Derek shook his head side to side, not wanting to meet Kurt's eyes.

"I don't care." Kurt told him. "I imagine dat it vas a _long_ time ago."

Derek nodded, barely, seemingly lost in thought and still looking away.

"But … it vasnt really fighting, heh?" Kurt pressed him. "It's _killing_, isn't it?"

Derek's eyes turned hard and angry. He struck his chest with a solid fist and shook his head.

"You wouldn't do it?" Kurt asked.

He shook his head, sadly, and Kurt felt that – perhaps - He had refused to kill until he had no choice.

"But you've been trained. And you think like that now, don't you?"

Derek paused, considering Kurt's words.

"I can see it." He explained. "And if I can see it then others will too, and soon."

Derek's eyes were not searching for answers as they turned on Kurt. They were, instead, flickering with idea's and courses of action.

"I had to say something." Kurt said defensively, his voice shaking. "It's just that … _It's dangerous_. You need to relearn it, to develop a new first instinct."

Derek seemed to slip out of the ethereal world of idea's and in to the room before Kurt and Kurt shrunk slightly, unintentionally, from his attention.

Derek was shaking his head and had taken Kurt by the shoulders as he faced him. He closed his eyes and took a slow breath. It had a calming influence on both of them.

When he opened his eyes, Derek wore an expression of appreciation and shock mixed with relief. "We speak of things that matter." He said solemnly. "With words that must be said." (1)

Kurt's tension was suddenly obvious as it broke. He exhaled a reserved breath and felt his shoulders slump.

"All things must pass away." (2) Derek assured him. "Goood-bye, Goood-bye!" (3)

"Good." Kurt seemed to whisper, his voice suddenly hoarse. 

Derek caught Kurt's eyes. "Thank you, for being a friend." (4)

Kurt swatted at the air between them as he slipped quickly out of the room.

He found Logan leaning comfortably on the far wall of the hallway and obviously ease-dropping.

"Save any lives today Elf?" Wolverine asked with a small, glib smile.

"May-be." Kurt replied with a raise of his eyebrows. "Sure didn't lose anyvone."

Wolverine chuckled softly and watched him stroll happily down the hall and out of sight. So of course Kurt had no idea what happened next. 

Kurt came to his senses and shook off the memory. He was going to the danger Room. It was the right thing to do.

But Derek wasn't done discussing life and death that day. Someone else had some snooping left to do – and this was a perfect opportunity.

Logan pushed off the wall and eased through the door that Kurt had just exited.

Jokingly, Derek cast his glance around and jumped like he might run. Then he relaxed, smiled and went back to lacing up his shoes.

Logan smiled. "The kids quick, isn't he?" Logan asked. 

Derek smirked and cast a quick glance to the doorway as he understood that Wolverine had been listening in. Then he nodded in agreement. "Whoosh." He grinned.

"I take a lot of pride in being his instructor." Logan told him. "He's a real quick study when it comes to anything physical – Martial arts, weapons, acrobatics." Logan eyed him carefully. "Killing."

Derek felt the word stiffen his back and he turned with a maddening slowness towards Wolverine.

"That's right." Logan said without inflection. "I've taught him everything anyone ever taught me. He hasn't got it all yet, but he's got the basics."

"Tell me why …" (5)

Logan was still appraising him. He could see that he had made him angry. Derek didn't look comfortable being angry. He wore it so openly that he couldn't have much experience with the emotion.

"Why I taught him to kill?" Logan clarified and Derek nodded.

"Honestly?" Logan smirked at himself for trying to make smalltalk with a virtual mute. He sighed internally. 

"I thought he might need it." He grimaced. "Not because of the things that happen here as an X-Man … But because of the way he looks." He admitted at last.

Derek looked away, his eyes focused on some imaginary distance as he stared at the floor. 

"He was ready too. Ready to learn." Wolverine said, bringing Derek's head up with a snap before Wolverine continued. "He's young enough that he'll develop a whole catalog of skills that will serve him the rest of his life." Logan told him. "And he's old enough to understand that killing is wrong."

Derek relaxed just a little. Logan noticed.

"My view is one of a hunter." He continued. "It's important to understand that some times, it's the sacrifices of others that keep us alive."

Derek didn't relax any more but he did seem to be slightly more at ease with the thought.

"Kurt's the only one here that really understands that. The only one of the kids, anyway."

Derek eyed Logan suddenly, as though a thought had struck him. 

"What is it?" Logan eyed him carefully.

Derek swallowed once.

"I know that look." Logan nodded. "You're thinking of one of them. Someone you've killed."

Derek nodded and held up one finger.

"Someone specific?" Logan guessed.

Derek asserted the finger again.

"Only one?" He guessed.

Derek nodded. "End of the innocence." (6) He swallowed again.

Logan nodded in understanding. "I don't like the feeling myself." He replied. "Gut full of guilt from the understanding of what you've done." He made a face and shook it off.

Derek nodded.

"And you didn't want to carry that feeling, did ya?" It was a statement as much as a question.

Derek shook his head.

"I followed you last night." Logan suddenly admitted. "Down to that bar."

Derek smiled slightly but didn't register anything else.

"Those folks really like you." He added. "They were real protective when I asked about you."

Derek's smile took on a deeper warmth.

"And I can respect that. Troublemakers don't last long in a good bar." Wolverine explained. "But I needed to check you out some." He explained. "Because … well, for a lot of reasons."

Derek cast a serious expression as he listened.

"But I think I'm done now." Logan told him. "I mean, I'm not looking anymore. I'm taking you at face value from here on in." Logan extended his hand and Derek took it.

"But people who kill are in short supply here at the mansion." He cautioned. "And I want it understood, just between us, that there's no room for mistakes here. Not that kind of mistake. And if anything happened to these people, I would take it real personal. You understand me?"

Derek shook his hand with a slight smirk on his face.

"What's that smile mean?" Wolverine's eyes narrowed.

He smiled knowingly, letting go of Logan's hand. "Life, I love you." (7) He smiled, clasped Logan on the shoulder, then shook him heartily. "All is groovy." (7) And Derek walked out of the room a happy man.

1) Simon and Garfunkle – The Dangling Conversation

2) George Harrison – All Things Must Pass Away 

3) Billy Joel – Stop in Nevada

4) Andrew Gold – Thank You For Being A Friend

5) Hair (musical) – Where Do I Go?

6) Don Henley – End of the Innocence

7) Simon and Garfunkle – The 59th Street Bridge Song


	17. Of Hearth and Home CH17 True Colors

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Seventeen: True Colors

Derek smiled fondly up at the observation deck of the danger room. 

Once again he stood alone in the middle of the vast and empty room as the dull whine of the power grid built itself up and engaged the room's systems one by one.

Storm stood with one arm across her midsection, holding the elbow of the other arm. Her free hand was idly stroking the charm on her necklace.

Kurt couldn't help himself. He wanted to grin madly and indulgently at her. He had watched 'Calvin' throw himself at Storm several times over the last few days – only to be rewarded with some witty banter or a casual smile. And every time, Kurt would watch as Storm sauntered away and his friend would turn his attention elsewhere.

The first time had been the worst. They had already met once by Kurt's guess, when Storm passed by during a friendly game of chess. Kurt slowly lost the game – and then – just before he lost completely – two moves from defeat …

His opponent swiveled the board around and gave Kurt the winning 'side'. They had then 'fought it out' for six moves before 'Calvin' looked up and smiled knowingly at Storm.

She had been so cool to him. So … _indifferent_. 

And Kurt's heart went out slowly, over the course of Derek's long, slow and lonely sigh.

Kurt immediately recognized the sharp and honest 'edge' of loneliness when he heard it. And in that one moment – he had wished that it had been a real blade, or the attack of an enemy that had cut him instead. At least then there would have been something to do; some way to help, or even a wound to heal. Because anything would have been better than standing there; stock-still, and watching her walk away.

Then, when Derek turned back toward the game and to face Kurt, Kurt saw the worst part of it. His new friend wasn't sad, or hurt, or even embarrassed. But Kurt could see it in his eyes. _He had something he wanted to say …_

Kurt knew, all too well, what it meant to go unheard. How many people had he seen cringe at the sight of him, only to refuse to listen as he tried to calm them? He couldn't imagine and didn't want to remember long enough to count.

But to see them together today, arm in arm as he escorted her to the observation deck, and to see the loving way that they smiled at each other as he slipped away to begin the session – did Kurt's heart a world of good. He felt like he was swimming in liquid joy.

But he tried not to let on.

Instead he smiled through the windows and tried not to dwell of Storms reflection in the glass.

Professor Xavier had shown a keen interest in this session and stared down at the floor intensely with a sharp and piercing gaze.

Beast, being his good-natured self, went about calibrating the rooms controls and setting up extra observation equipment – including a piece that received information directly from a sensor that Derek was wearing. It attached to electrodes on his temples and behind his neck. In addition to providing basic health data like heart rate and galvanic-skin stress monitoring, it also provided basic brain-wave information that was vital to truly classifying his abilities.

Logan was there, sitting in one of the control positions and chewing on a toothpick, awaiting the 'action'.

But Kurt couldn't help but notice that no one else had joined them. He thought for sure that Bobby and Jamie would have come; maybe even Kitty. But so far, he stood alone.

"Are we ready?" Xavier asked through the microphone as the door swept open behind him. He paused to glance back.

Rogue took four or five purposeful steps inside the room and crossed her arms over her chest in a huff. She threw herself – to lean against the back wall of the room.

Kurt smiled at her curiously but she just looked away and blew her bangs up and out of her eyes. Logan eyed Charles and Beast, caught Beasts eye and nodded sideways to indicate Rogue. Beast shook his head 'no' and gave a small wave of 'dismissal'. Logan relaxed back in to his seat but looked unsure of Beast's 'answer'.

"I changed everything up for this sequence." Beast narrated. "Completely re-wrote the program. Everything. So that nothing he saw last time could help him. This should be totally 'unpredictable'." He smiled.

"Sounds interesting." Logan decided.

Rogue rolled her eyes looked away at an empty corner of the observation deck.

Derek was smiling up from the floor. His blue eyes stood out across the distance. He was giving a 'thumbs up' sign.

Xavier keyed a control and leaned back to observe.

The room burst to life. Huge sections of the floor began to flip end over end to display different features on the reverse. Derek had to run in order to stay on even ground without being thrown or swallowed by the floor beneath him. 

Weapons platforms began surfacing on the 'new' sections of floor, and by the second shot, he was back-flipping to the firing pattern and evading the shots with ease. 

"Whoa." Rogue said, forgetting herself.

"Yeah." Logan said slowly, knowing full well that Derek had not moved that fast when they 'met' in the hallway outside the infirmary. He landed on a newly emerged weapons platform and seemed to 'shatter' it. He simply hit it in such a way that it seemed to collapse on to itself, slightly, right where it sat.

"Cannon four is down." Beast said. "So is the floor panel."

But Derek seemed to know this. He ducked low, by the weapons of the platform, and waited for a fraction of a second before turning a single back-flip in place and landing on his feet as a shot of weapons fire seemed to pass right through him.

"Did that one get him?" Kurt jumped nervously.

"No." Logan said, seriously. "He was off the ground. He drew the fire low and then went high."

"Weapons are losing accuracy." Beast informed them. "He's managed to damage the targeting sensors on cannon four and we're getting echoes."

"Wow." Xavier brought everyone's attention to the floor below.

Derek was moving with an incredible grace and the fluid motions of a master martial artist or professional dancer. He had found his 'groove'. His route around the room looked erratic and random, but in a moment he turned the route in to a circle and found himself doubling back toward the first broken weapon. He was drawing the fire of the platforms and using it to strafe the other weapons while nimbly avoiding the flipping floor panels.

"This scenerio is down to sixty percent." Beast informed Xavier.

"Switch to phase two." Xavier told him.

"Phase two?" Kurt asked, his attention focused on the man below. No one answered him. 

Instead, the floor and ceiling began to form columns intent on smashing in to each other and Derek began riding them to varying heights before side-stepping the impacts, often in to empty space – only to be caught by newly rising columns.

"It's too easy." Xavier said. "He's moving AHEAD of the program."

"Phase three." Beast said in a mild disbelief.

And as Beast keyed the control, something strange began to happen. Derek seemed to begin to glow.

He appeared to be wrapped in a bark blue aura that left a trail as he moved across your vision. 

Storm gasped in recognition and although they noticed, no one said a word.

He no longer seemed even remotely concerned with the exercise. He looked like he was dancing in a stage show or music video – solely for the entertainment value. He was moving with such timing and precision that it was hard to watch and believe that he was human and not a machine or computer generated graphic.

"What the …" Rogue's mouth was hanging open when Kurt checked her reflection in the glass, but it was then that he saw what she was talking about. 

Derek no longer seemed to be putting any effort in to moving at all. Instead he seemed to be riding his own momentum and bouncing about the room in defiance of physics, gravity and reason. His blue aura had almost totally obscured him and it was growing 'thick' or 'deep' in appearance. 

"He's excited himself like a particle." Hank said in awe.

"Vhat?" Kurt asked, not looking away.

"Like when you boil water – you excite the particles – make them active … but this …" He shook his head in disbelief.

"More like pure Zink in water." Xavier commented. "Potential energy discharge."

"_Yes_." Hank agreed excitedly.

Derek was flipping about the room in long, slow arcs as a ball frenzied, spinning ball of activity. Phase three had begun, but he was moving in such a manner that nothing in the room seemed capable of hitting him.

And then, he vanished within his aura. And everything in the room stopped moving.

"What is it?" Logan asked.

"Control." Storm sounded heartbroken. "He's just taken … control."

"How do you mean?" Xavier asked quickly.

Derek began to uncurl himself from the balled up position he had been holding during his 'dance'. He stretched out to his full height and simply hung there in the air. He was only visible through his aura in the briefest of glimpses as he moved. It was only then, in the 'front' of his movements that he was not lost in the marbled swirl of blue on blue that covered him.

The room was still trying to attack and run it's program – but the control board was registering thousands of problems, from minor glitches and power failures to downright impossible conditions. Hank had begun to try to respond, but the controls appeared to be dead to the touch. Nothing responded.

"Control." Hank agreed, dropping down in to one of the observation seats and giving up on attempting to restart the sequence.

And Derek, hanging in place, began to move in an orbit, leaving a great trail of vibrant blue behind him. He soared with his arms outstretched, head first, turning long, slow loops in the space of the room. 

The trail that he was leaving seemed to hang longer and longer behind him as he began to move faster and faster in his flight. He was forming a solid ball of light in the middle of the room and soon, he was indistinguishable from it.

One of Hanks machines began to register a solid tone.

"We've lost vital signs and brain activity." He sounded hesitantly concerned.

"It's because he has no body now." Storm said quietly, laying a hand to the window. 

"Of course." Beast sighed in understanding. "But how did you …"

"The weather." She said softly, watching the great ball of blue energy as it began to pulse with energy. "When I control the weather, the winds and the air … It's the same force … _the potential_." She realized out loud. "I just control … a different aspect of it."

Logan's eyes were wide and his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "Do you hear that?" He asked.

And everyone strained to listen.

"Ah, I think I hear … _music_?" Rogue asked hesitantly.

Logan nodded. "It's getting louder too. Has been for about ten seconds."

And then Kurt heard it too. It was thick music – lots of overlapping instruments – forming the sound – but each capable of sustaining the listener all on it's own.

"Lutes." Hank said. "Lutes and a fife."

Xavier shook his head. "Classical piano. Like my mother used to play."

Kurt shook his head. "Nein. Guitars. Rock and Roll. Right?"

"It's all there." Logan told them. "It's all about what we're ready to hear."

"How do you mean?" Beast asked, still listening and seeing for the first time that Xavier, while still watching the room, was also lost in the music.

"When my mood changed, so did the song." Logan replied quickly, still listening.

Kurt tried it. He thought of seeing Storm walking away from Derek. He thought of the pain and the emptiness.

And the violins swept in and took him. They were sad and longing sounds, but lush and thick with life. There were many violins, but they were all solo's – they never played together. He felt the tears flow down his face and he tore himself away from the thoughts. He recalled his enthusiasm and joy at seeing Storm and Derek together and the dark, heavy tones of the violins swept up to become the voices of angels singing in rapt praise of all creation. And again, the tears rolled down his face. 

"Mein gott." He swayed to the music. "Vhat is he doing …"

Suddenly, the spell was broken for them all as the celestial music came to a shattered halt as the 'ball' of blue light exploded to the heavy rock and roll scream of "Yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!" (1) as it reverberated through the room and then the mansion around them. The surface expanded out and away from Derek. It seemed to pass through everything, themselves included, as it vanished.

Derek was visible again, dropping semi-gracefully and under normal gravity to the floor below.

"Room is back on-line." Beast said, standing to look at the read-outs. "And showing … _No damage_."

"What?" Xavier whipped on him. "What about cannon four?"

Beast shook his head and flipped the control back and forth. "No damage Charles. He fixed it. He got himself up to an energy state and then threw off that discharge. If I had to guess – I'd say that it carried his intent to the room and shifted everything 'back', on the quantum level, to the way it had been before."

Xavier turned his eyes back to the floor. Derek had already left the room.

"Insane." Kurt shook his head, a smile on his face.

"Impressive." Xavier corrected him.

"Indeed." Hank retorted.

"Yes. Very much so." Storm agreed as she turned, mixed emotions on her face, and swept out of the room.

Kurt turned to speak to her, excitedly, but Rogue had already gone. And Kurt was left wondering why she had come at all.

1) The Who – We Wont Get Fooled Again


	18. Of Hearth and Home CH18 End Of The Wor...

Of Hearth and Home

Chapter Eighteen: The End Of The World As We Know It

Wanda trudged on, step by step, despite the pain. It felt like it was ripping through her forehead in an effort to escape. But the alien thoughts were clearer now, a running monologue of accusations and attacks. 

She could feel her powers in use without her consent. She bit down hard, clenching her jaw, and redoubled her efforts to get to the scene. 

She felt fever sick when she turned the corner and saw herself standing over her father. Like some forgotten nightmare come back to life, she began to move in slow motion as she approached, the pain now all encompassing and retarding her ability to think clearly.

"Stop!" She told herself through gritted teeth. Wanda extended an arm and went to cast her hexing power, but it did not leave her hands. Instead, she drew the hex that held Mystique in place and it began to move towards her mysterious double.

"NO!" The other barked, gesturing, and the hex-cloud moved back over Mystique, crushing her to the ground and she struggled to free herself.

The other turned her eyes on Magneto and those eyes began to burn with rage and intensity as the hex field around him began to draw the life out of his body.

Wanda forced herself to run unsteadily forward, her hands outstretched, but her powers unable to come. It seemed that she was creating feedback with the other Wanda and all they could do was vie for control of the energy already in use.

Wanda dove at 'the other'. 

The other was shocked, but turned her eyes on Magneto. Then, the Wandas touched skin to skin.

Their memories collided psychically as they made the physical connection to each other; and they shook and spasmed under the weight of the memories that conflicted.

The hex fields began to abandon their purpose and instead began to stretch out to fill the surrounding area. It shimmered and glistened with expectation, growing ever denser and more alive with power as the Wandas surrendered it and crumpled together in their mad contest of wills.

Magneto knew, as he struggled to raise his head from the pavement, that they were dying. One was surely going to cancel the other out and the winner would surely wield the power of both.

He also knew that this meant he was facing even odds of dying in the next few moments and losing his daughter in the process.

His body was racked with a near volcanic pain as he forced himself up on his arms. He could barely move. She had almost killed him.

He reached for them, but his powers were lost in the surrounding Hex Cloud. He had the unsettling notion that any power he attempted to wield would be lost to him and gained by the surviving Wanda.

"Inheritance." He whispered, surprising himself, as he forced his body to respond to his will and rise. He cast his eyes around for Mystique – she was trapped in the energy cloud. She couldn't penetrate it and although she was shouting, he could not hear her.

__

No way out. He realized. _It's me … or the both of us …_

Magneto raised his eyes to the heavens in a silent prayer for strength and staggered as fast as he could, trying to gain momentum as he rushed towards the Wandas.

The red haired Wanda sneered in to her rival's face. She didn't know how she had been copied or who dressed her twin, but one thing was certain. The dark haired Wanda lacked the aggressive fire of her counterpart; and it was costing her – her very life.

The Dark haired Wanda raised her head to look past the red-head's shoulders. "Dad … run…" Was all she could manage to say before collapsing unconscious.

And Magneto dove, throwing himself between them, pushing them apart, and throwing himself down on top of the dark haired Wanda.

The victorious Wanda stood up strait, obviously shocked at the gesture. Her mind was reeling with the dying girls memories and she shook her head to clear it and confirm her vision.

__

He's shielding her … placing his life … She shook her head. It wasn't possible. _He does not care_. She told herself, knowing it had long been true, but finding herself suddenly unsure.

"Get up!" She cried, the energy field weakening around her and growing thin.

"GET UP!!!" She demanded, but to no avail. Because try as he might, he could not lift himself. Not even enough to turn to face her.

Tears began to roll down Wanda's face as she looked down at them. She squinted as she saw Magneto, crippled and weak – as he leaned, protectively, over her newfound twin, breathing heavily in pain and the expectation of sudden death.

Wanda ran a hand through her hair as her body began to convulse in devastation and rejection.

And the energy field broke around them, vanishing in a twinkling, and carrying with it the feeling of total abandonment that one can only come to know through the actions of a parent.

Wanda didn't even decide to run, sobbing, from the scene. She just suddenly found herself recovering, as she distanced herself from her counterpart and her head began to clear.

When she looked up a moment later, she discovered that she had returned again, to the cheapest bar in Bayville.

Back in the mansion however, people were beginning to leave for the holiday vacation. Most everyone was packed and Derek knew that Kurt would soon be leaving as well. 

"_Vhat are you do-ing_?" Kurt asked suspiciously through Derek's semi-opened door. He laid a hand on the door and opened it as he stared

Derek, in turn, took his two neatly folded 'Xavier Institute' sweatshirts and stuffed them in to his institute issued duffel bag. He turned back to the dresser and pulled out his tee-shirts then crammed them in to the bag as well.

"You're packing." Kurt observed. "You know we're only leaving for the holiday. You could stay if you wanted."

Derek smiled. It was obvious that he knew.

"But you're coming back, right? After the …" But he couldn't finish. He could feel it in the air between them. "You're _not_ coming back, _are you_?"

Derek looked kindly on his confused little brother and shrugged widely, holding his hands apart.

"But you're not planning on it, are you?" Kurt asked, sounding hurt.

Derek sighed and motioned that Kurt should come in to the room. Kurt, perhaps expecting something, closed the door behind him.


End file.
